World Cup ’94 : WORLD CUP USA ’94 / GROUP C PREVIEW : It’s the Feign in Spain : Despite Club Successes, Nation Can’t Master Cup
For all of its history and club-level success with such powers as Barcelona and Real Madrid, Spain has done almost nada in World Cup competition.
On one fourth-place finish, in 1950, a soccer-breathing nation does not hang its hat.
Spain, mind you, formed its first club in 1898.
The one-two punch of Spanish Civil War and World War II certainly knocked Spain’s international game on its ear for a time, but what of the rest of a century?
Spain is making its ninth World Cup appearance, fifth consecutive, the previous eight having been mostly forgettable.
Four years ago, it was eliminated by Yugoslavia in the second round.
Yet, Spain remains a mecca on the club scene. Foreigners flock to play on the talent-rich teams. Once, the great Maradona flocked. In fact, convinced outsiders were undermining the international cause, Spain banned foreigners from 1963 to 1973, with dubious results: It failed even to qualify for the Cup in 1970 and 1974.
Yet, while the ban on foreigners was lifted in 1973, Spain’s World Cup fog has not.
Intent on an image make-over is Javier Clemente, Spain’s candid and controversial coach.
Rather than try to assemble a team of assorted parts, Clemente named nine members of one club, Barcelona, to Spain’s 22-man national squad.
“I picked a squad I believe will be competitive as a compact unit,” Clemente said after the announcement.
Barcelona remains a European club power, having won its fourth consecutive Spanish League title and advancing to the European Champions Cup before losing to Italy’s AC Milan.
Unfortunately, Clemente cannot take Barcelona’s best players, two of the world’s best: Romario of Brazil and Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov.
But Clemente hopes that infusing a club flavor in the national team will push Spain closer to the promised land.
Spain is far from a favorite and, playing in Group C, will have to spar against the likes of Germany, the defending World Cup champion, and Bolivia, a South American up-and-comer that defeated powerful Brazil in a qualifying match.
By Clemente’s choice, Spain will field mostly midfielders and defenders, which might be construed as a conservative approach.
The only forwards on the roster are Julio Salinas of Barcelona, Felipe Minambres of Tenerife, Luis Enrique Martinez of Real Madrid and Juan (Juanele) Castano. .
The best of the bunch is Salinas, who scored seven goals in World Cup qualifying games. Salinas is a two-time World Cup veteran.
Spain’s most exciting young player is Julen Guerrero, a 20-year-old midfielder and rising star from the northern port of Bilbao, the city that formed Spain’s first club, Athletic de Bilbao, nearly 100 years ago.
Guerrero has scored 28 goals in league play the past two seasons. The baby-faced Guerrero was voted Spain’s best native player.
Andoni Zubizarreta, Spain’s 32-year-old goalkeeper, has a national-record 86 international appearances but will miss the opener against South Korea because he was ejected from the final qualifying game against Denmark.
