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Revision as of 07:53, 5 August 2017 by 92.196.127.198(talk)(Undid revision 793982280 by Lagarto-spock (talk) see previous edit from 23 Jul 2017 "remove regional flags, they aren't used anywhere else and are difficult to define anyway")
The Spain women's national football team (Spanish: Selección femenina de fútbol de España) represents Spain in international women's football.[3] Although not considered a powerhouse like it's male counterpart, it has achieved some success like reaching the European Championship's semifinals in 1997. Spain's youth team have enjoyed a much larger success in recent times, like winning their two consecutive UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship in 2010 and 2011, as well as reaching four consecutive finals from 2014 to 2017, winning the 2015 edition of the tournament. At the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, it has reached the final once in 2014 and placed third place in 2010 and 2016, which brings hope to the senior team.[4]
In 2017 the national team won its first international trophy, when they participated for the first time in the Algarve Cup winning the tournament, defeating Canada in the final.
History
Early years
After underground women's football clubs started appearing in Spain around 1970 one of its instigators, Rafael Muga, decided to create a national team. It was an unofficial project as football was considered an unsuitable sport for women by both the Royal Spanish Football Federation and National Movement's Women's Section, which organized women's sports in Francoist Spain. When asked about the initiative in January 1971 RFEF president José Luis Pérez Payá answered I'm not against women's football, but I don't like it either. I don't think it's feminine from a esthetic point of view. Women are not favored wearing shirt and trousers. Any regional dress would fit them better.[5]
One month later, on 21 February 1971, the unofficial Spanish national team, including Conchi Sánchez, who played professionally in the Italian league, made its debut in Murcia's La Condomina against Portugal, ending in a 3–3 draw. The team wasn't allowed to wear RFEF's crest and the referee couldn't wear an official uniform either. On July 15, with a 5-days delay for transfer issues, it played its first game abroad against Italy in Turin's Stadio Comunale, suffering an 8–1 defeat. It was then invited to the 2nd edition of unofficial women's world cup (Mundialito 1981), but RFEF forbid them to take part in the competition.[6] Despite these conditions Spain was entrusted hosting the 1972 World Cup. RFEF vetoed the project, and the competition was cancelled and disbanded. The unofficial Spanish team itself broke up shortly after.
1980s: Officiality of the team
After the transition to democracy in the second half of the decade RFEF finally accepted women's football in November 1980, creating first a national cup and next a national team, which finally made its debut under coach Teodoro Nieto on 5 February 1983 in A Guarda, Pontevedra. The opponent was again Portugal, which defeated Spain 0–1. The team subsequently played 2-leg friendlies against France and Switzerland drawing with both opponents in Aranjuez and Barcelona and losing in Perpignan before it finally clinched its first victory in Zürich (0–1).[7] On 27 April 1985 it played its first official match in the 1987 European Championship's qualification, losing 1–0 against Hungary. After losing the first four matches Spain defeated Switzerland and drew with Italy to end third. The team also ended in its group's bottom positions in the subsequent 1989 and 1991 qualifiers. After the former Nieto was replaced by Ignacio Quereda, who has coached the team since September 1, 1988.
Teodoro Nieto left the most International Footballer Conchi sanchez (Amancio) out of the Spanish Team even when the player was the first Capitain during the 70s, She was playing in Italy at the time winning championships and Italian Cups, there was not substantial reasons to leave such extraordinary player out at the peak of her career, the damaged was done to such brilliant player who loved to play for her country and fully deserved more respect and recognition.
1990s and 2000s: Growing up
The 1995 Euro qualifying marked an improvement as Spain ended 2nd, one point from England, which qualified for the final tournament. In these qualifiers Spain attained its biggest victory to date, a 17–0 over Slovenia. In the 1997 Euro qualifying it made a weaker performance, including a record 0–8 loss against Sweden in Gandia, but the European Championship was expanded to eight teams and Spain still made it to the repechage, where it defeated England on a 3–2 aggregate to qualify for the competition for the first time. In the first stage the team drew 1–1 against France, lost 0–1 against host Sweden, and beat 1–0 Russia to qualify on goal average over France to the semifinals, where it was defeated 2–1 by Italy. All three goals were scored by Ángeles Parejo.
This success was followed by a long series of unsuccessful qualifiers. In the 1999 World Cup's qualifying Spain ended last for the first time, not winning a single game. In the 2001 Euro's it made it to the repechage, where it suffered a 3–10 aggregate defeat against Denmark. In the 2003 World Cup's it again ended last despite starting with a 6–1 win over Iceland. In the 2005 Euro's, where a 9–1 win over Belgium was followed by a 5-game non scoring streak, it ended 3rd behind Denmark and Norway. In the 2007 World Cup's the team again ended 3rd behind Denmark and Finland despite earning 7 more points.
In the 2009 Euro's Spain made its better performance since the 1995 qualifiers, narrowly missing qualification as England clinched the top position by overcoming a 2–0 in the final match's second half. Spain had to play the repechage, where it lost both games against the Netherlands. In the 2011 World Cup's Spain again ended 2nd, with no repechage, after England again overcame a half-time 2–0 in their second confrontation.
2010s: First World Cup
Spain achieved 16 years later a place for the final stage of a European Championship. The team qualified for the UEFA Women's Euro 2013, after beating Scotland in the qualifiers playoff. In the group stage, a win over England and a draw against Russia was enough to qualify for the quarterfinals, where it was eliminated by Norway.
Two years later, Spain qualified for the first time ever to a World Cup, winning nine of its ten matches of the qualifying round. In the group stage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Their campaign, however, ended up being a disaster. Spain managed only a 1–1 draw into the weakest team in the group, Costa Rica, before losing 0–1 to Brazil. In the last match with South Korea, they still lost 1–2 after an initial lead, becoming the worst European team in the tournament. After the World Cup, the 23 players on the roster issued a collective statement for the end of Ignacio Quereda’s reign as head coach.[8] Later that summer, Quereda stepped down and was replaced by Jorge Vilda, who had previously coached the U-19 team, and was on the shortlist for the 2014 FIFA World Coach of the Year.[9][10]
Spain has achieved to qualify for the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 by winning all the matches and ahead in 11 points to the second classified.
In 2017 the national team team participated for the first time in the Algarve Cup winning the tournament.[11]
There is also a women's national team that represents Spain in international football in under-16 categories and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
This team usually participates each year in UEFA Women U-16 Development Tournament (although it is not an official tournament) with remarkable success[16]
(23 June 2017)
Spain 3–3 Portugal 
1991
1999
2011
2015
2019
2000
2004
2012
2016
1987
1991
1993
2009
2017
Switzerland XI; January 22, 2017
Iceland; March 6, 2017
Japan; March 1, 2017
Eupen
Champions: 2017
Poland
Malta
Turkey
Kazakhstan
Macedonia
Champion
