London Olympics 2012: Preview to Spain's football team

It’s been 12 long years since the men’s Spanish football team featured in the Olympics, and they are all set to etch their name in the record books with a gold medal in 2012. They have appeared 9 times before and have only 2 medals to show. A gold at Barcelona in 1992 and a silver in Sydney with Carles Puyol and Xavi part of the squad in 2000. La Furia Roja ended up losing to Cameroon in the finals with Samuel Eto’o playing a pivotal role.

With the Real Madrid and Barcelona youth academies producing excellent players, coach Luis Milla has no shortage of talent and is rather spoilt for choice. Their U-23 squad is a team that many, Football Manager addicts, would call a dream team with such a young squad all ready to outshine their seniors. The three over age players picked by Luis Milla are Juan Mata, Adrian Lopez and Javi Martinez.

The twenty two – man squad

Coach : Luis Milla

Goalkeeper : David De Gea (Manchester United), Diego Marino (Villarreal), Joel Robles (Atletico Madrid)

Defenders : Jordi Alba (Valencia/Barcelona), Cesar Azpilicueta (Marseille), Alberto Botia (Sporting Gijon), Alvaro Dominguez (Borussia Monchengladbach), Inigo Martinez (Real Sociedad) Javi Martinez and Mikel San Jose (both Athletic Bilbao) Martin Montoya (Barcelona)

Midfielders : Thiago Alcantara and Cristian Tello (both Barcelona), Ander Herrera (Athletic Bilbao), Isco (Malaga), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Juan Mata and Oriol Romeu (both Chelsea);

Forwards : Adrian Lopez (Atletico Madrid), Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao), Rodrigo (Benfica), Alvaro Vazquez (Espanyol).

What to expect from them?

Once again just like their Euro and World Cup winning team they are pre-tournament favorites, with the best chance of going back home with a gold medal hanging around their necks. With all eyes on them, it would be interesting to see whether they can overcome the pressure and match up to the expectations. International competitions like the Olympics gives us new talent. You see players with exceptional skills that you have never seen or heard of before. European clubs who have the money will be switching on their telly’s with the sole motive of finding a gem from the various nationalities on display, and Spain will be in the center of their attention.

Key Player – Jordi Alba

It is tough to chose a key player. Ander Herrera and Juan Mata have been fantastic for both their clubs. Even though Juan scored a goal in the few minutes that he got to play in Euro 2012, Jordi Alba has impressed many. The way he surged forward to score the second goal for Spain against Italy turned many heads. Now that he has moved to Barcelona, the pressure has definitely ceased to exist. It would be exciting to see how he runs down the left flank and coordinate with the midfield as La Roja look to grab a second gold and round off a successful year in football for Spain.