MADRID (AFP)
Left-back Jordi Alba and winger Juan Mata, both scorers in
Spain's 4-0 Euro 2012 final victory over Italy last weekend, were
called up to the Spanish squad for the London Olympics on
Tuesday.
Spain will bid to add the Olympic title to their collection after
becoming the first side to successfully defend a European
Championship title, as well as the first to win three consecutive
major tournaments after Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
Alba -- who signed for Barcelona from Valencia at the end of June
and was one of the big revelations of the tournament -- Chelsea's
Mata and Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martinez are the only members of
the Euro 2012 winning squad to feature in the Olympic list.
Coach Luis Milla will trim the 22-man squad down to 18 names
ahead of the July 26 to August 11 Games, where Spain will bid for
their second Olympic football title after their triumph in
Barcelona in 1992.
The squad will get together on Friday and play two friendlies,
against Senegal on July 13 in the Canary Islands and Mexico on
July 18 in Cadiz, before the Games.
Alba, Mata and Javi Martinez will join up at a later date after
being granted some time off to recover from their European
Championship heroics.
Spain squad
Goalkeepers: David De Gea (Manchester United/ENG), Joel Robles
(Atletico Madrid), Diego Marino (Villarreal)
Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta (Marseille/FRA), Jordi Alba
(Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), Alvaro Dominguez
(Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER), Martin Montoya (Barcelona),
Alberto Botia (Sporting Gijon), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao),
Inigo Martinez (Real Sociedad)
Midfielders: Thiago Alcantara (Barcelona), Ander Herrera
(Athletic Bilbao), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Oriol Romeu (Chelsea),
Isco (Malaga), Juan Mata (Chelsea), Iker Muniain (Athletic
Bilbao)
Strikers: Adrian Lopez (Atletico Madrid), Alvaro Vazquez
(Espanyol), Cristian Tello (Barcelona), Rodrigo (Benfica/POR)
