Spain national football B team

Spain B was a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the Spain national football team. They commonly played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations, from 1949 to 1981.[1][2]

Spain B
AssociationSpanish Football Federation
Most capsPepillo (9)
Top scorerManuel Badenes (8)
First international
Spain Spain B 5–2 Portugal B Portugal
(A Coruña, Spain; 20 March 1949)
Biggest win
Spain Spain B 7–1 Greece Greece
(Madrid, Spain; 13 March 1955)
Biggest defeat
Germany West Germany B 5–2 Spain B Spain
(Dortmund, West Germany; 14 June 1953)
Spain Spain B 2–5 West Germany B Germany
(Barcelona, Spain; 31 May 1956)

Early history

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Spain B's first game is considered by some to be the one on 29 May 1927 at the Metropolitan Stadium in Madrid, where they beat the Portugal A team 2-0, thanks to second-half goals from Francisco Moraleda and Manuel Valderrama. The team that started that day was Guillermo Eizaguirre, Miguel Garrobé, Emilio Perelló, Ramón Polo Pardo, Manuel Valderrama, Gonzalo, Domingo Carulla, Enrique Molina, Pedro Regueiro, Emili Sagi-Barba and Óscar, and the two substitutes that came after the break were Matías Aranzábal and Francisco Moraleda, with the latter scoring the opening goal.[3][4][5] However, the Spain B team was only officially created 22 years later, in 1949, by the hands of the then national coach, Guillermo Eizaguirre, who had been the starting goalkeeper in the 1927 match. A Coruña was the city chosen to host this team's first-ever match against the Portuguese, and the Spanish B team won again, 5-2. And those who have played for the Spanish side that day include the likes of a young Estanislau Basora, Silvestre Igoa (scored twice) and Miguel Muñoz, all of whom future Spanish stars.[6] The next game was played only four years later, in 1953, this time thanks to Ricardo Zamora (the then Spain coach), to give the possibility to test under-21 or less experienced players, in addition to those involved with the senior national team.

Mediterranean Cup

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Between 1953 and 1960 was when more games were held. A total of 17, divided between 8 friendlies and 9 Mediterranean Cup games. Spain B participated in the 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup, where they faced the A teams of Turkey, Egypt and Greece home and away, as well as the B teams of Italy and France, but Spain showed great character and won the tournament with 5 points to spare, finishing with 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, with their only loss in the tournament coming at the hands of Greece (0-2) in Athens on 13 March 1957, which was a huge upset as Spain had beat them 7-1 at home.[7] The top goal scorer of the tournament was Manuel Badenes with 8 goals courtesy of two pokers, the first in a 7-1 win over Greece on 13 March 1955 and the other in a 5-1 win over Egypt on 27 November of the same year. These 8 goals also makes him the all-time top goal scorer of the Spain B team.

1982 World Cup

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Preparing the squad for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, the then Spanish coach, José Santamaría and the then Spanish U-21 coach, Luis Suárez, put together a block of 7 Friendly tests throughout 1980 and 1981, and in this block, Javier Urruticoechea established himself as a goalkeeper, playing 5 of the 7 games. The squad of this B side was Javier Urruticoechea, Francisco García, Marcos Alonso, Juan José Rubio, Ricardo Gallego, Francisco Pineda, Antonio Maceda, Manuel Jiménez, Víctor Muñoz, Cundi, Periko Alonso, Pichi Alonso, Dani, Julio Alberto, Gerardo Miranda, Santillana and Juan José. The most recent fixture was a friendly against Poland B on 18 November 1981, which ended in a 2-0 with two goals from Pichi Alonso.[8]

Results

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29 May 1927 Friendly[a] Spain  [a] 2 – 0   Portugal Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid
17:30 (UTC+1:00) Moraleda   61'
Valderrama   81'
Report Attendance: 30,000
Referee:   Thomas Crewe
20 March 1949 Friendly Spain   5–2   Portugal Riazor, A Coruña
Ontoria   7'
Igoa   15', 60'
Bazán   35'
Escudero   43'
Report Caiado   11'
Bentes   84'
Referee: Léon Boes (France)
6 May 1953 Friendly Spain   2–0   Luxembourg Mestalla, Valencia
18:00 Manchón   25'
Buqué   28'
Report Referee: Raymond Vicenti (France)
14 June 1953 Friendly West Germany   5–2   Spain Rote Erde, Dortmund
Pfaff   32', 44'
Schäfer   34', 54', 58'
Report Ramoní   36', 39' Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)
13 March 1955 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Spain   7–1   Greece Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
Badenes   7', 35', 51', 58'
Olmedo   33', 68'
Maguregui   82'
Report Emmanouilidis   37' Referee: Maurice Frédéric Guigue (France)
10 November 1955 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Spain   3–1   France Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
Domingo   15'
Agustín   17'
Collar   28'
Report Dalla Cieca   8' Referee: Eduardo Gouveia (Portugal)
27 November 1955 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Spain   5–1   Egypt Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
Tejada   43'
Badenes   47', 70', 73', 87'
Report El-Hamouly   8' Referee: Armando Marchetti (Italy)
31 May 1956 Friendly Spain   2–5   West Germany Les Corts, Barcelona
17:30 Bosch   56'
Villaverde   85'
Report Biesinger   20'
Gerritzen   30'
Szymaniak   53'
Schönhöft   77'
Schröder   88'
Referee: Joaquim Campos (Portugal)
8 December 1956 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Italy   0–1   Spain Amsicora, Cagliari
Report Tejada   61' Referee: Sulhi Garan (Turkey)
8 March 1957 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Egypt   0–1   Spain Cairo
Report Pepillo   10' Referee: Giannis Daskalakis (Greece)
24 November 1957 Friendly Luxembourg   1–4   Spain Municipal, Luxembourg City
Mond   39' (pen.) Report Pepillo   16'
Peiró   20'
Tejada   50', 75'
Referee: Daniel Mellet (Switzerland)
13 April 1958 Friendly Portugal   0–0   Spain Nacional, Oeiras
Report Referee: Jean-Louis Groppi (France)
5 July 1958 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Spain   2–0   Turkey Atotxa, San Sebastián
Peiró   40'
Pepillo   82'
Report Referee: Marcel Lequesne (France)
16 October 1958 1953-58 Mediterranean Cup Spain   3–1   Italy La Romareda, Zaragoza
Peiró   25', 49', 50' Report Stacchini   59' Referee: Jean-Louis Groppi (France)
15 May 1960 Friendly Morocco   3–3   Spain Honneur, Casablanca
Chicha   45' (pen.)
Baba   71'
Abdallah   74'
Report Ruiz Sosa   16'
Ribelles   56'
Paredes   58'
Referee: Francisco Guerra (Portugal)
12 October 1960 Friendly Spain   4–3   Morocco Los Cármenes, Granada
16:30 Mateos   15', 23', 29'
Pepillo   17'
Report Akesbi   35', 80'
El Filali   39'
Referee: Abel Campos (Portugal)
2 April 1961 Friendly France   0–2   Spain Municipal, Grenoble
Report Aguirre   14'
Marcelino   68'
Referee: Albert Guinard (Switzerland)
10 December 1961 Friendly Spain   3–2   France La Romareda, Zaragoza
Adelardo   7'
Bueno   11' (pen.)
Marcelino   53'
Report Lafranceschina   54'
Rustichelli   85'
Referee: Abel da Costa (Portugal)
15 November 1964 Friendly Spain   3–0   Portugal El Arcángel, Córdoba
José María   26' (pen.), 80' (pen.)
Arieta   85'
Report Referee: Andries van Leeuwen (Netherlands)
24 September 1980 Friendly Spain   2–2   Hungary Nou Estadi, Valencia
Rubio   48' (pen.), 63' (pen.) Report Nagy   35'
Soos   44'
Referee: Paolo Casarin (Italy)
15 October 1980 Friendly Spain   0–0   East Germany Lluís Sitjar, Palma
Report Referee: Daniel Lambert (France)
12 November 1980 Friendly Poland   0–0   Spain Stali Mielec, Mielec
Report Referee: Manfred Roßner (East Germany)
18 February 1981 Friendly France   0–0   Spain Municipal, Toulouse
Report Referee: Enzo Barbaresco (Italy)
25 March 1981 Friendly Spain   3–2   England Los Cármenes, Granada
Alonso   20'
Rubio   37'
Santillana   48'
Report Statham   66'
Martin   76'
Referee: Hendrik van Ettekoven (Netherlands)
15 April 1981 Friendly Hungary   1–3   Spain Gyöngyös
Borostyan   35' Report Dani   14'
Morán   23', 50'
Referee: Josef Marko (Czechoslovakia)
18 November 1981 Friendly Spain   2–0   Poland La Romareda, Zaragoza
Alonso   27', 88' (pen.) Report Referee: Franz Gächter (Switzerland)

Spain national football B team head to head

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Key
Positive balance (more Wins)
Neutral balance (Wins = Losses)
Negative balance (more Losses)
Nationality From To P W D L Win %[b] GF GA GD
  France 1954 1981 5 4 1 0 90% 10 3 +7
  Portugal 1949 1964 3 2 1 0 83.33% 8 2 +6
  Luxembourg 1953 1957 2 2 0 0 100% 6 1 +5
  Egypt 1955 1957 2 2 0 0 100% 6 1 +5
  Italy 1956 1958 2 2 0 0 100% 4 1 +3
  Hungary 1980 1981 2 1 1 0 75% 5 3 +2
  Turkey 1957 1959 2 1 1 0 75% 2 0 +2
  Poland 1980 1981 2 1 1 0 75% 2 0 +2
  Morocco 1960 1960 2 1 1 0 75% 7 6 +1
  Greece 1955 1957 2 1 0 1 50% 7 3 +4
  West Germany 1953 1956 2 0 0 2 0% 4 10 –6
  England 1981 1981 1 1 0 0 100% 3 2 +1
  East Germany 1980 1980 1 0 1 0 50% 0 0 0
Total 28 18 7 3 76.79% 64 32 +32

Player records

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Top appearances

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Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) Caps
1 Pepillo Sevilla, Real Madrid 1955–1960 9
2 Enrique Collar Atlético Madrid 1955–1959 7
Manuel Mestre Valencia 1957–1960 7
4 Justo Tejada Barcelona 1954–1960 6
Ferran Olivella Barcelona 1956–1958 6
Francisco García Real Madrid 1980–1981 6
Manuel Jiménez Sporting Gijón 1980–1981 6
8 Campanal Sevilla 1953–1957 5
Antonio Argilés Espanyol 1953–1956 5
Joaquín Peiró Atlético Madrid 1956–1959 5
José Vicente Espanyol 1957–1960 5
Juan José Rubio Atlético Madrid 1980–1981 5
Javier Urruticoechea Espanyol 1980–1981 5

Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Bs.

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) Goals
1 Manuel Badenes Valencia 1955 8
2 Justo Tejada Barcelona 1954–1960 5
Joaquín Peiró Atlético Madrid 1956–1959 5
4 Pepillo Sevilla, Real Madrid 1955–1960 4
5 Enrique Mateos Real Madrid 1957–1960 3
Juan José Rubio Atlético Madrid 1980–1981 3
7 Silvestre Igoa Valencia 1949 2
Ramoní Sevilla 1953 2
Pablo Olmedo Celta Vigo 1955 2
Marcelino Martínez Zaragoza 1961 2
José María García Oviedo 1964 2
Pichi Alonso Zaragoza 1981 2
Enrique Morán Betis 1981 2

Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Bs.

Honours

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Mediterranean Cup Champion: 1953-58

Notes

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  1. ^ a b In May 1927, Spain played a friendly against Portugal in Madrid[3][4][5] on the same day as they played Italy in Rome.[9][10][11][12] The squad for the Italy game was more experienced and considered to be stronger, while several players in the Portugal match made their debuts; consequently the Spain team is considered to have been equivalent to its B team[2] (although they won their match while the A team lost theirs)[12] and thus not a full international, although the match is included in some media articles relating to the rivalry and in some statistical tallies of caps for the players involved.[13][14][15][16]
  2. ^ A draw counts as a ½ win

References

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  1. ^ "Spain national team: Selection B". BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "¿Sabes qué era la Selección Absoluta B?" [Do you know what the Senior B Team was?]. SEFútbol (in Spanish). RFEF. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b "International football match: 29.05.1927 Spain* v Portugal". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b "29/05/1927: España 2 - 0 Portugal". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Spain v Portugal, 29 May 1927". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Selection B · Friendly · Sunday 20/03/1949". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Mediterranean Cup 1953-1957 results". football.eu. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  8. ^ "España B Amistosos 1980". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  9. ^ "International football match: 29.05.1927 Italy v Spain". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  10. ^ "29/05/1927: Italia 2 - 0 España". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Italy v Spain, 29 May 1927". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Los españoles, gandaores en el Stadium y derrotadoes en Bolonia por tanteo de 2 a 0" [The Spaniards, winners in the Stadium and defeated in Bologna by score of 2 to 0]. La Voz (digital archive) (in Spanish). 30 May 1927. p. 11. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  13. ^ "España vs. Portugal: rivalidad y revancha" [Spain vs. Portugal: rivalry and revenge]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 June 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Regueiro: Pedro Regueiro Pagola [List of matches / Spain National Team]". BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  15. ^ "National football team player: Jorge Vieira". EU-football.info. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Appearances for Portugal National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
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