FRANCE98 – Spain Team Page

14^th Qualifier UEFA

(Europe)

Land area: 504,782 km≤

Population: 39,200,000

Capital: Madrid

Main cities: Barcelona, Sevilla, Bilbao, Valencia

System of government: Constitutional Monarchy

Head of state: Josť Maria Aznar (Prime Minister)

Currency: Peseta

Time difference: none

4 September 96 Feroe Islands – Spain 2-6

9 October 96 Czech Republic – Spain 0-0

13 November 96 Spain – Slovakia 4-1

14 December 96 Spain – Yugoslavia 2-0

18 December 96 Malta – Spain 0-3

12 February 97 Spain – Malta 4-0

30 April 97 Yugoslavia – Espagne 1-1

8 June 97 Spain – Czech Republic 1-0

24 September 97 Slovakia – Spain 1-2

11 October 97 Spain – Feroe Islands 3-1

26 points

26 goals scored

36goals conceded

Goalkeeper: ZUBIZARETTA (age 36, 118 caps)

Defenders: ABELARDO (age 27, 36 caps) ALKORTA (age 29, 45 caps) NADAL (age 31, 39 caps)

SERGI (age 26, 27 caps)

Mid-field: RIOS (age 26, 7 caps) HIERRO (age 29, 51 caps)

LUIS ENRIQUE (age 27, 31 caps)

Striker: KIKO (age 25, 16 caps) ALFONSO (age 25, 21 caps)

RAUL (age 20, 7 caps)

Number of players used during the qualifying rounds: 25

National team colours: red and gold

FIFA ranking (on 16 October 1997): 2nd

World Cup: participated 9 times (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994)

1950: 4th place

European Championship: Winner in 1964, Finalist in 1984

Javier Clemente
The Spanish team coach Javier Clemente is the envy of his peers. For he is one of the few national team coaches, if not the only one, to have all his players right where he can keep an eye on them: currently, not one member of the Spanish team plays abroad! Clemente would appear to be putting this advantage to good use, too, as Spain has not been beaten since….the 1994 World Cup. 47 years old and of Basque origin, he played for Athletic Bilbao before an injury put an end to his career. Since he took over five years ago, he has both strengthened and breathed new life into the Spanish, notably by calling on the youngsters who helped Spain to an Olympic Gold Medal in 1992. Today, Spain can count itself among the best teams in the world.