MADRID: 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. — AFP