On March 24, 1999, Iñaki Sáez, Spanish under-20 coach, announced the list of 18 footballers called up for the World Cup. There were barely ten days left until the opening of the tournament in a country of strong contrasts like Nigeria and there were hardly any names that sounded like Xavi Hernández, Gabri or Iker Casillas. It didn’t have much impact. The media focus was on the list of the absolute of José Antonio Camacho for the games against Austria and San Marino qualifying for Euro 2000 and also on the odyssey of the Yugoslav internationals to escape the bombings of the NATO for the Kosovo war. Today, 25 years later, that generation remains the only Spanish youth world champion.
“We were not favourites. But we started well, beating Ronaldinho’s Brazil 2-0 in the first match of the group stage. And that got us in trouble”, explains Pablo Orbaiz, captain of that team. “For me it was the most special match of all. I was excited to score the first goal of our World Cup”, remembers Gabri. “In Brazil we knew him well. In January we faced them in a tournament in Uruguay and they beat us 3-0. We took note of it”, says Couñago, Golden Boot of that World Cup with five goals. The chronicles explain that Spain, in group F and which played the first matches in Calabar and Port Harcourt, almost on the border with Cameroon, knew how to nullify Brazil with an orderly football. It was also the first time that Brazil was defeated in an official match in any category.
Instead, the next group stage match against Zambia was emotionally the most difficult. Marcelina Ruiz, the mother of Iñaki Sáez, died. Still, the coach decided to be in Nigeria. “At first they didn’t want to tell us what was going on. When we found out, we wanted to show him that we were there to help him”, remembers Couñago. The match against Zambia, played with a black armband, was played on April 8, 1999 at the Calabar Stadium. The press dubbed it “the oven”, as it reached 44 degrees. The game ended in a 0-0 draw. “The coach was an example. The whole team has a lot to thank him for”, recalls David Aganzo, the last to arrive on the expedition. “Gerard López was injured and I replaced him. I didn’t know anyone except Iker Casillas, who was my age and with whom I shared a room”, he adds.
After the draw against Zambia, came the victory against Honduras (3-1) and the classification of Spain as first in the group. In round of eight they beat the United States (3-2). After two weeks in hotels in Calabar and Port Harcourt, Spain set course for Kaduna, in the heart of Nigeria. They found the poorest face in the country. “A huge lizard got into the room I shared with Iker. The scare was very big”, recalls Aganzo. “We slept two in one bed. And we showered with bottled water because the water there was not healthy. We were very hungry in general and at some point we considered leaving”, recalls Gabri, who shared a room with Xavi. “We all lost between four and five kilos, the conditions were dire,” recalls the current Barcelona coach. “It’s a good thing that our doctor, Jordi Guillén, brought a trunk of canned ham”, reveals Orbaiz.
A change of hotel and the coach’s words prevented the departure of Spain, who faced Ghana in the quarterfinals. It was then that Sáez gave him the alternative to Iker Casillas, second goalkeeper. “We drew 1-1 and went to the penalty shootout. Iker stopped the last one and certified Spain’s passage to the semi-finals. It was not seen on TV because the signal was cut”, recalls Aganzo. “It’s just that communications were difficult. You called from hotels and it was very expensive. The families knew that we were doing well because of the press,” recalls Orbaiz. Without moving from Kaduna, on April 21 Spain hosted Mali in the semi-finals. They qualified for the final against Japan thanks to a brace from Varela and another goal from Xavi. “No one thought we would get this far”, says the egarenc.
The final was played on April 24, 1999 at the Surelere Stadium in Lagos. Spain was crowned after winning 0-4. “We started jumping. We went around the field and took a lot of pictures”, recalls Aganzo. “Not all of them, because they put me and Marchena in a room at the anti-doping control for 45 minutes,” recalls Couñago, who scored two of the four Spanish goals. “Then we celebrated in the hotel pool. And in Spain we received several tributes”, recalls Aganzo. “It doesn’t seem like that much time has passed. I smile remembering it”, says Orbaiz. For Gabri, “it was the explosion of Spanish football”. And for Xavi, “it was a knock on the table. That World Cup, after the arrival of the Bosman law that allowed foreign players to be hired, vindicated the talent of the young players. It was the beginning of the golden era of Spanish football”.
