Year 1989
By the start of his first
full year, Luis Suarez had settled on a squad. Andoni Zubizaretta was the first
name on the teamsheet (and would remain so for the another decade).
The
center defense comprised of Manuel Sanchis and Genar Andrinua. The right back
position appeared to be that of Quique Flores, however, Miguel Chendo was not
out of the fight. Manuel Jimenez also appeared to have hold on the other
outside back spot.
Michel,
Roberto and Rafael Martin Vazquez were set for their spots in midfield.
Emilio
Butragueno along with Manolo were the preferred striking duo.
Spain
picked up its World Cup qualifying schedule as early as January, when they
traveled to Valetta to face Malta on January 22nd, 1989.
Spain
were comfortable winners (2-0) but it came at a cost as Manuel Sanchis was sent
off.
Michel
had given Spain the lead on a penalty kick in the 16th minute and
Aitor Beguiristain had doubled the lead in the 51st minute.
However,
Sanchis’ second yellow card in the 75th minute left Spain, a man
short, but were never really troubled.
A
few weeks, they made another trip abroad to Belfast to face Northern Ireland
for their fourth qualifier.
Miguel
Chendo was back in the squad as right back and Ricardo Serna started as cover
for the suspended Sanchis.
Alberto
Gorriz was in the lineup as an extra defensive cover. Suarez decided to start
with Jose Maria Bakero instead of the in-form Manolo.
This
would be Bakero’s last match for Spain that year, as he would miss many months
after a terrible injury.
Spain
took an early lead in the 3rd minute after Genar Andrinua headed in
a corner. Afterwards, the Irish attacked in the hopes of getting as a result.
They
continued to attack in the second half but Spain held firm.
Luis
Suarez was absolutely on the edge and nervous and shouted tactical directions
to his defense from the touchline to such an extent that the West German
Referee Dieter Pauly sent him off in the 73rd minute.
 |
Photo From: MARCA_1989-02-09
(Luis Suarez being sent off, February 8, 1989,
World Cup Qualifier, Northern Ireland 0-Spain 2) |
Manolo,
who had come on as a late substitute, sealed the points for Spain by scoring
near the end.
Suarez
had called up Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Vicente Biurrun as the substitute
goalkeeper, but he would never earn any caps.
Suarez
also called up for the first time a player who would become a legend of Spanish
Football. Real Valladolid defender Fernando Hierro was called up to the
National Team for the first time, though a first official cap was many months
(plus a transfer to Real Madrid) away.
This
win over Northern Ireland had been the fourth straight qualifying win under
Suarez and qualification appeared certain.
Jackie
Charlton, the Republic of Ireland Manager, was in the stands and he admitted as
much when he said, “Spain practically
qualified”.
Afterwards
Suarez stated, “the essential has been done, that is to win, but the team must
improve if it wants to be one of the favorites. Spain has enough quality
players to impose and dominate. Against the Irish we were not in such a
position. We scored early to guarantee our win, but the manner leaves much to
be desired”.
Spain
were to host Malta at Sevilla on March 23rd, 1989, which was a
formality.
Manuel
Sanchis was back from suspension, but Luis Suarez would not be on the Spanish
bench as he was suspended after his sending off in the previous match. Jesus
Pereda stood in for Suarez and as predictably Spain won comfortably with two
doubles from Michel and Manolo.
 |
Photo From:
MARCA_1989-03-24
(Luis Suarez,
March 23, 1989, World Cup Qualifier, Spain 4-Malta 0)
|
Michel
scored from two dead ball situations. In the 38th minute, his
indirect free kick was deflected in by the wall and in the 67th
minute he scored from his trademark penalty kick.
Afterwards
Manolo scored off of two headers in the 73rd and 81st
minutes. He had now scored four goals for Spain.
 |
Photo From: World Soccer,
April 1990
(Manolo celebrating one of his goals, March 23, 1989,
World Cup Qualifier, Spain 4-Malta 0) |
Another
one of Suarez’s 1986 stars, Eloy of Valencia was also back in the fold and came
on as a second half substitute.
Despite
the win, Suarez was not satisfied. He felt they should have imposed their
rhythm more and could have scored more goals.
At
this point Spain had virtually qualified and a good result vs. Republic of
Ireland at Dublin on April 26th, 1989 would have guaranteed it.
Spain
were missing Andrinua in the center of defense and Serna once again filled in
as cover.
Luis
Suarez was back on the bench, however, the Irish were a different proposition
and Spain came down to earth after five straight wins.
Ireland
dominated the match throughout, as they desperately needed a result to qualify. In the 16th minute, Michel diverted Ray
Houghton’s cross into the net to hand Ireland the victory.
 |
Photo From: World Soccer,
October 1989
(Michel’s
own goal, April 26, 1989, World Cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 1-Spain 0)
|
 |
Photo From: Fussball Magazin
(Spain squad, April 26, 1989, World Cup Qualifier,
Republic of Ireland 1-Spain 0) |
Spain were inactive for nearly five months. The new
season started with a friendly vs. Poland at Suarez’s hometown of La Coruña on September 20th, 1989.
Suarez took the
opportunity to conduct some experimentations and handed out many debuts. He
gave a starting debut to Real Zaragoza winger Francisco Villaroya. He
would be a vital cog of the Suarez regime thereafter.
 |
Photo
From: Todo Sobre La Seleccion Espanola, Felix Martialay, 2006
(Miguel Chendo, September 20, 1989, Spain
1-Poland 0) |
The
other debutants came on as substitutes in the second half. These included
substitute goalkeeper Ochotorena, as well as Fernando Hierro (now with Real
Madrid) and Minguela.
Spain would be victorious in this friendly (1-0)
through a strike by Michel (20th minute).
The qualification phase raeched its final phase
with two matches vs. Hungary.
The
first encounter was at Budapest on October 11th, 1989.
Spain
raced to a two-goal lead by scoring through Julio Salinas (31st
minute) and Michel (36th minute).
However,
Hungary came back to earn a tie through a double by Attila Pinter (39th,
83rd minutes).
In
the second half, Miguel Pardeza earned his International debut. He was the last
member of the famous ‘El Quinta del Buitre’ to earn his cap.
 |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2271, October 17, 1989
(Miguel
Chendo, October 11, 1989, World Cup Qualifier, Hungary 2-Spain 2)
|
Pardeza
had failed to establish himself at Real Madrid and had left in 1987 and joined
Real Zaragoza and made his breakthrough there.
Despite
the draw, Spain had officially qualified for the World Cup. Suarez basked in
the glory and was jubilant in his moment of triumph in front of Spanish
journalists.
He
stated that he had his team more or less mapped out. He did have a number of
conerns: to choose between Chendo and
Quique Flores for the right back spot, and the long injury layoff of Bakero.
Suarez was confident of Spain’s chances and said, “we are going to Italy with a
lot of ambition, at this point only Brazil and West Germany are superior to my
team”.
 |
Photo
From: MARCA_1989-10-12
(Luis Suarez) |
The
next and final qualifier vs. Hungary on November 15th, 1989 at
Sevilla was inconsequential and was effectively part of Spain’s 1990 World Cup
preparations.
Real
Zaragoza’s Juanito, Barcelona’s Luis Milla and Valencia’s Fernando earned their
International debuts in this match.
Juanito
and Fernando celebrated their debuts by both scoring in the comfortable (4-0)
win.
Manolo
had given Spain the lead (8th minute), before Butragueno headed in
Spain’s second (25th minute).
Juanito
scored from a free kick (40th minute) and Fernando finished off the
scoring (64th minute).
 |
Photo From: Onze-Mondial,
Hors Serie 3, 1990
(Fernando, November 15, 1989,
World Cup Qualifier, Spain 4-Hungary 0)
|
 |
Photo From: Onze-Mondial,
Hors Serie 3, 1990
(Spain squad, November 15, 1989, World Cup Qualifier,
Spain 4-Hungary 0) |
 |
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Hors Serie 3, 1990
(Luis
Suarez)
|
The
preparations for the World Cup started with a friendly vs. Switzerland on
December 13th, 1989 at Tenerife.
Suarez
continued to experiment by handing three more International debuts in the
second half to Real Oviedo’s Luis Manuel, Real
Valladolid’s Gabriel Moya and Tenerife’s Felipe Minambres.
He
also recalled Atletico Madrid pair of Tomas Renones and Francisco Ferreira.
Michel gave Spain the lead with yet another
penalty kick in the 43rd minute.
Switzerland tied up the score early in the second
half (47th minute) through Adrian Knup.
Felipe Minambres, making
his debut in his home stadium, scored Spain’s winner in the 60th minute. |
Photo From Diario Avisos 14 diciembre
, 1989
(December
13, 1989, Spain 2-Switzerland 1)
|
 |
Photo From Diario Avisos 14 diciembre
, 1989
(Spain
squad, December 13, 1989, Spain 2-Switzerland 1)
|
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