THE VITALS:

Team: Spain

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2001-03 (Used for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2004 UEFA European Championships Qualifying campaign)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

The only thing preventing this shirt from being described as being excellent is that the netting on the side panels has been resewn and surgery is quite blatant when the shirt is in your hands. For a shirt however that is now 20 years old; the shirt material is still in fine condition as is the Adidas embroidery and the national team crest.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20.5 inches

Shirt Length: 29.5 inches 

Made by Adidas in their ‘ClimaLite’ range of shirts which they released in 2002; these shirts were from an era were the fits were notoriously roomy, and these dimensions I believe may even be better suited to someone who wears a size large.

DESCRIPTION:

Adidas’ eight presentation of the Spanish men’s national team’s shirt would distinguish itself from all of its predecessors as this shirt used yellow as the standout secondary colour of the shirt with the colour adorning the netting on the side panels, the hoop neck collar and the adidas embroidery while navy was relegated to simply the three stripes down the sleeves. This shirt would also be the first to have Espana embroidery adorn the national team crest. This shirt debuted in November 2001 against Mexico as the nation readied itself for the World Cup in 2002 where Spain would be eliminated by South Korea in the quarter-finals under acrimonious circumstances. This shirt cycle would conclude as Spain had edge past Norway in the Play-Off to reach the 2004 UEFA European Championships. This would also be the last home shirt to be worn by the likes of: Miguel Angel Nadal, Gaizka Mendieta, Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, Javier De Pedro and Fernando Hierro for ‘La Roja’, while simultaneously being the first to be donned by the next generation of players such as: Fernando Torres, Joaquin, Carlos Marchena and Xabi Alonso.

THE SEASON(S):

With qualification to the FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea sealed; Spain would see out the 2001 by welcoming Mexico to the Nuevo Colombino stadium on 14^th November and they would win the intercontinental Spanish clash 1-0 thanks to a goal from Raul.

‘La Roja’ reunited in February 2002 for a blockbuster Iberian Derby against Portugal in Barcelona where two of the favourites to lift the World Cup in the Far-East in the summer battled to a 1-1 draw, before falling 1-0 to a Netherlands side who didn’t even qualify for the tournament. In their final game before their opening game at the World Cup against Slovenia on 2^nd June – Spain would punish Northern Ireland 5-0 on 17^th April.

Spain would be drawn in Group B alongside Paraguay, South Africa and Slovenia – the former yielding a rematch of their Group Stage clash at the World Cup in France four years earlier. Spain would score 9 goals in their three outings to claim three wins in a row; joining Brazil as the only nation to win all of their games. In the Last 16, they would meet the Republic of Ireland. They would lead the way for most of the game before being pegged back by a 90^th minute penalty to set up a penalty shoot-out in Suwon. Spain would ultimately see off the challenge of Ireland 3-2 and earn themselves a place in the quarter-finals against co-host and one of the many surprise packages of the competition in South Korea.

After they had controversially eliminated Italy in the previous round, South Korea would again would then eliminate Spain in a penalty shoot-out in front of over 42,000 fans in Gwanju on 22^nd June; however, Spain would feel aggrieved after two goals were disallowed during regulation time.

The national side would dust themselves off after their disappointment in the World Cup with qualification for Euro 2004 next on the agenda, before then would come a 1-1 draw with Hungary in August. Their opening pair of qualifiers would yield a pair of victories over Greece and Northern Ireland.

The year of 2003 would begin with a friendly against the World Cup runners-up – Germany on 12^th February at Son Moix, and Spain would earn a statement 3-1 win. Qualification duties would resume the following month with a dramatic 2-2 draw against the Ukraine before getting back on track with a 3-0 win over Armenia on 2^nd April. The end of the month would yield a 4-0 win over Ecuador in another friendly on home soil; however, the June series of qualifiers would bring a defeat against Greece and a draw with Northern Ireland which made automatic qualification for the European Championships no longer in their hands.

The autumn months would see Spain defeat Euro 2004 hosts – Portugal, 3-0 on 6^th September before wrapping up the qualifiers with wins over Ukraine and Armenia; however, with Greece winning the group; Spain would have to traverse the dreaded play-off’s if they wanted to take part at Euro 2004. Their opponents would be Norway and they would come from a goal behind to win the 1^st Leg 2-1 in Valencia on 15^th November. In the 2^nd Leg in Oslo; Spain would make no mistake as they delivered a 3-0 win to reach the tournament finals in June 2004!

The notable players that season(s) were:

Raul, Fernando Torres, Diego Tristan, Alberto Luque, Joseba Exteberria, Fernando Morientes, Vicente, Javier De Pedro, Joaquin, Juan Carlos Valeron, Guti, Luis Enrique, Xavi, Ruben Baraja, David Albelda, Gaizka Mendieta, Josep Guardiola, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Carlos Marchena, Carles Puyol, Miguel Angel Nadal, Juanfran, Joan Capdevila, Miguel Salgado, Ivan Helguera, Iker Casillas, Santiago Canizares