Spain U-20 coach Gines Melendez has named his 21-man squad ahead
of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2007. The Spanish will travel to Canada
later this month determined to vie for the world title currently
held by Argentina.
La Selección qualified for Canada 2007 by virtue of
winning the UEFA European U-19 Championship in July 2006. The squad
set to compete for the upcoming world title is largely based on the
one that took the continental honours on Polish soil last year,
with 14 of the 21 having played together in that tournament.
One of the team's strengths is their competitiveness, not
surprising when you consider many of their players are regulars
with their clubs in the Spanish first and second divisions. In this
category are defenders Gerard Pique, a solid presence at the back
for Real Zaragoza, where he is on loan from Manchester United, and
Antonio Barragan, impressive this year in the colours of Deportivo
la Coruna.
Strikers Alberto Bueno and Juan Manuel Mata of Real Madrid
Castilla (the club's B team) remain Melendez's first-choice
front men - no surprise given the good understanding the pair have
shown together with their national and club sides. One interesting
inclusion on the list is that of Adrian Gonzalez, a promising
midfielder from the Madrid youth academy. The player's father,
Michel, is none other than the famous
Merengue winger of the 80s and 90s, who played for Spain
at the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups™.
The squad will spend from 18 to 24 June at their training
camp in Madrid, before heading to Burnaby, Canada, where they will
be based for their three Group B games against Uruguay, Zambia and
Jordan.
At the last edition of the tournament in 2005, Spain were
eliminated in the quarter-finals by a Lionel Messi-inspired
Argentina side that went on to lift the title.
The full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Antonio Adan Garrido (Real Madrid),
Javier Martinez Gonzalez (Albacete Balompie), Angel Bernabe Acosta
(Atletico de Madrid)
Defenders: Antonio Barragan Fernandez (Deportivo de la Coruna) Gerard Pique Bernabeu (Real Zaragoza) Marc Valiente Hernandez (FC Barcelona) Jose Angel Crespo Rincon (Sevilla FC) Roberto Canella Suarez (Real Sporting de Gijon), Gorka Elustondo Urkola (Real Sociedad)
Midfielders: Esteban Granero Garcia, Javier Garcia Fernandez and Adrian Gonzalez Morales (Real Madrid) Marcos Garcia Barreno (Villarreal) Antonio Calvo Arandes (FC Barcelona) Diego Capel Trinidad (Sevilla FC) Sunday Stephen Obayan "Sunny" (CP Ejido), Iriome Gonzalez Gonzalez (CD Tenerife), Mario Suarez Mata (Real Valladolid)
Forwards: Alberto Bueno Calvo and Juan Manuel Mata Garcia (Real Madrid) Adrian Lopez Alvarez (Deportivo la Coruna)
