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Continuing our series of articles on the most promising European players, this time we will review the talents of Spain, which were noticed by the official UEFA website reviewers.
Spain has deep talent development traditions and the first half of the 2005-2006 season was no exception.
After star strikers Michael Owen and Javier Portillo left the star-studded Real Madrid team, young Roberto Soldado had the opportunity to shine. On September 28, in his debut UEFA Champions League match, he scored a winning goal against Olympiacos. The twenty-year-old forward looked impressive in La Liga matches and within the reserves of Real Madrid's Castilla team, he is one of the leaders. With captain Raul facing an injury that will require treatment for four months, opportunities may open up for the young forward, a former member of the Spanish national team that won the European Youth Championship (U-19) (the article was written before Antonio Cassano joined Real).
In the ranks of Deportivo La Coruna, there is also a talented striker. When Joaquin Caparros took over as coach in June, he immediately noticed the leader of the youth team, Ivan Carrillo. Impressing in training sessions, he helped Deportivo fight in the UEFA Intertoto tournament and scored a goal in the final against Marseille. Since then, he has played in La Liga and appeared six times as a substitute. However, it was not always successful for I. Carrillo to make an impression playing in a defensive position.
Goalkeeper Antonio Doblas became the first-choice goalkeeper for Sevilla's Betis at the end of last season when Pedro Contreras was injured and has held onto his position since. He helped the team in the UEFA Champions League and is now guarding the team's goal in the UEFA Cup. His teammate, defender Alberto Rivera, arrived at Betis from Madrid in the summer and demonstrated such an impressive game that the Spanish national team coach, Luis Aragones, invited him to the World Cup qualifying match against Slovakia.
The Flano twins, Javier and Miguel, made their debut for Osasuna after several years of expectation. Miguel, a center-back, made it to the starting lineup in April and played in seven matches by the end of the season. His brother Javier, playing on the right-hand side, also made it to the starting lineup. J. Flano debuted in the UEFA Cup match against Rennes. This season, both brothers are key players in the Osasuna lineup: Javier played in fourteen out of seventeen team matches, and Miguel in nine.
This year, three reserve players at Espanyol in Barcelona really surprised critics. Goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz is simply a backup for the impressive Carlos Kameni, but when he guarded the Catalan team's goal in the UEFA Cup, he did so well.
Defender Moises Hurtado and forward Jonathan Soriano made their debut in the Espanyol lineup in 2002 but have since played in the reserve team until Miguel Angel Lotina took over as coach. M. Hurtado is indeed a defensive-minded defender but that did not stop him from scoring in the UEFA Cup match against Palermo. Meanwhile, J. Soriano often replaces the fans' favorite Raul Tamudo on the field but does so quite well.
This season, G. Iraizoz guarded Espanyol's goal only once and conceded one goal, M. Hurtado played in eleven La Liga matches and scored an own goal once, and J. Soriano appeared on the field three times after substitutions this season, totaling 65 minutes.
Baskonia Bilbao's Athletic fans are looking at twenty-year-old Fernando Llorente as the next big thing. Their club is going through its toughest season in its 107-year history. A product of the famous club's youth academy, the tall striker made his debut last January. This season, he scored once in thirteen matches and is considered one of the most realistic candidates for the Spanish national team.
Getafe, the "third" Madrid club, is playing in La Liga for only the second season, but striker Daniel Guiza, who arrived from Murcia after an impressive season, has become one of the finds of this season. Leaving Mallorca a couple of years ago, last season D. Guiza was the top scorer in the second division of Spain, and this season he played in all seventeen Getafe Spanish league matches and scored five times. His most impressive performance was in a 5-2 victory against Zaragoza, where the 25-year-old striker scored twice.
