Spain Soccer

There is very strong culture of soccer or futbol, as known in Spain, only behind England and Italy in Europe. However, Real Madrid of La Liga is one of the top clubs in Europe. The credit of the fame of soccer in Spain leans on the shoulders of its being inexpensive, both to watch and play.

In spite of being so popular a sport among the masses, the Spanish soccer team has always remained an under achiever. There is hardly any achievement found in the history of Spanish soccer on which they could feel proud. They won just one European Championship through out the history of this sport in this country. However, it has produced some of the famous players in its history. They are Alfredo de Stefano, Luis Suarez, Kubala, goal keeper Zamora, Luis Enrique etc. the soccer stars such as Butragueño, Martin Vazquez, Caminero, and Raul are cited as the most famous Spanish soccer players in more recent years.

The Royal Spanish Football federation was laid in 1913. The organization soon started a solid work for the promotion of soccer in the country. The first competition Spanish soccer team took part in was the Olympics of 1920. The Spanish team won Silver medal in the games.

Seven times the Spanish soccer team has qualified for the Euro Cup. However, they have given outstanding performance only once. They drove their fans crazy in the championship held in 1964, by holding the cup for the first and last time to date. They defeated USSR in the final by two goals to one. In its eleven appearances in the World Cup finals, the Spanish team could never qualify for its grand finale. There maximum advancement in the cup was till the semi final, where too they remained disappointed by ending in the fourth place. They could make to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for four times.

The Spanish football is divided into four different professional leagues. The clubs are promoted and demoted at the end of every season according to their performances. The season runs between middle of September to the mid of May. During this time period over hundred of matches are played through out Spain, every week end. At the top of the Spanish League is the twenty teams of Liga I or simply known as La Liga.

The Spanish La Liga is one of the top most leagues in the world today. The favorite and top performing clubs of Spanish soccer league are Real Madrid and Barcelona, ranking second and third in the world respectively, at the moment. FIFA, named Real Madrid as the most successful club of the 20th century. This title has been awarded to them because of the fact that they won more Championships than any other team of Europe. They won it for nine times. Real Madrid has a definite system of selecting the players for their team, keeping the best and the most productive as the most important factors, in front while their selection. All along the history La Liga has produced some star players. These players include:

1. Raymond Kopa
2. Luis Suarez
3. Alfredo Di Stéfano
4. Johan Cruyff
5. Hristo Stoichkov
6. Rivaldo
7. Ronaldinho
8. Luis Figo

All these players were elected European Footballer of the Year while playing for La Liga Spanish clubs. In addition; Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho were all voted FIFA World Player of the Year. The famous players included in La liga at the moment include Rohnaldinho, Deco, Lionel Messi, Raul, Thiery Henry, Fernando Torres etc.