La Furia Roja

Spanish team is commonly known by fans as “La Furia Roja”, meaning the Red Fury in Spanish. The Spain national football team (Spanish: Selección Española de Fútbol) represents Spain in international men’s football competitions. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for Football in Spain.

There are other unofficial nicknames to refer to the national team of Spain. The other most common nickname, known by fans, is “Los Toros” (Fighting Bulls), since Spanish Fighting Bull is one of Spain’s famous national treasures and often used to define Spanish culture, and also often depicted by Spanish supporters alike. Spanish football team is sometimes also referred as the Bulls due to this cultural heritage.

Spanish team also received other nicknames, mostly “Toreros” or “Matador”, both meanings are Bullfighters in Spanish, to describe its passionate and romantic style of football playing.

The team’s played a style of football dubbed ‘tiki-taka’, a systems approach to football founded upon the ideal of team unity and a comprehensive understanding in the geometry of space on a football field.

Spain’s kit is traditionally a red jersey with yellow trim, dark blue shorts and black socks, whilst their away kit is all predominantly white. The colour of the socks is traditional black. Rather than displaying the logo of the Spanish football federation, Spain’s jersey traditionally features the coat of arms of Spain over the left breast. After winning the World Cup, the World Cup winners badge was added to the right breast of the jersey and a golden star at the top of the Spanish coat of arms.

Spain does not have a designated national stadium, and as such, major qualifying matches are usually played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Other friendly matches, as well as qualifying fixtures against smaller opponents, are played in provincial stadia.

Spain has two main rivalries with other top footballing nations.

1. Their rivalry with Italy, sometimes referred to as the Mediterranean Derby, has been contested since 1920, and, although the two nations are not immediate geographical neighbours, their rivalry at international level is enhanced by the strong performances of the representative clubs in UEFA competitions, in which they are among the leading associations and have each enjoyed spells of dominance. Since the quarterfinal match between the two countries at Euro 2008, the rivalry has renewed, with its most notable match between the two sides being in the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, which Spain won 4–0.
2. Their rivalry with Portugal, also known as the Iberian Derby, is one of the oldest football rivalries at a national level. It began on 18 December 1921, when Portugal lost 3–1 to Spain at Madrid in their first ever international friendly game. Portugal lost their first matches, with their first draw (2–2) only coming in 1926. Portugal’s first win came much later (4–1) in 1947. Both belong to the strongest football nations of the world.