History:
Spain’s national football team is currently the European Champion, having won the 2008 UEFA European Championship. Spain has qualified for the FIFA World Cup eighteen times, reaching fourth place in the 1950 tournament. They are two-time UEFA European Football Championship, having won the European Nations' Cup in 1964, in addition to their most recent victory in 2008. In July 2008, Spain rose to the top of FIFA’s World Rankings.
The Spanish national football team is based at the magnificent sports complex of the Spanish Futbol Federation's La Ciudad del Futbol (City of Futbol). The complex is located about 24 kms (15 miles) from Madrid. The facilities include quad bedrooms, restaurant, cafeteria, 4 soccer fields (2 grass and 2 artificial), a swimming pool, a game room, a gymnasium and more.
With full side natural grass fields, state-of-the-art artificial grass fields, and a goalkeeping-specific training field, the complex has everything that a futbol team needs to take their game to the top level. All fields have their own lighting systems. Two fields feature stands that seat more than 1000 fans and contain locker rooms connected to all fields. The complex also boasts an indoor futsal arena (Spain is currently Futsal World Cup champion). Other outstanding features include a gymnasium, assembly hall, classrooms, and meeting rooms which can be used for coaches’ seminars, clinics, team meetings and video viewing.
Testimonials:
"...from the moment we arrived at the Spanish National Team Training Complex "City of Futbol", to the moment of our departure after the match with Real Madrid junior team, everything was first class."
Alfonso Mondelo - MLS Technical Director Player Program
Accommodations:
Inside the City of Futbol complex, just a few yards from the soccer fields, is an outstanding 4-Star hotel. The accommodations include large and comfortable double and triple-bed rooms with individual bathrooms, TV, wireless internet service, outdoor swimming pool, fine restaurant and laundry services that make a guest’s stay and training experience even more pleasant.
Sightseeing:
As Europe's third largest city, Madrid is Spain's financial and political core and home to the Royal Family. It is also the heart of the country’s extraordinary cultural riches of the Golden Triangle - the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza art museums. The repression and paralysis of the Franco era (1939-75) are now all but forgotten by Madrileños who, perhaps more than any other Spaniards, are determined to vivir a tope (live life to the fullest). Tourists discover that the bustling streets and life-loving attitude of its citizens are always on display and a joy to observe.
While the Comunidad de Madrid (Madrid Province) stretches over 8,000 sq km (3,090 sq miles), the city's historic heart is easily explored on foot. The narrow, labyrinth streets of the medieval quarter contrast greatly with the city’s grand boulevards which were laid out in the 18th and 19th centuries - the period when Madrid began to take on the trappings of a modern capital.
Each barrio (neighborhood) has its own distinctive atmosphere with Lavapiés, Malasaña and Chueca being the oldest and most interesting to see. Many visitors first become familiarized with the central area, known as the Madrid of the Austrias (a reference to the Hapsburg era), situated roughly between the Palacio Real and the Puerta del Sol, Madrid's 'mile zero'. It is only a short walk from here to the city's main street, the Gran Vía, lined with shops, banks, offices, bars and cinemas.
At the far (northern) end of the Paseo de la Castellana are the 'leaning towers' of the Puerta de Europa (Gateway of Europe), a captivating and daring display of architecture that symbolizes the city's confidence in its future.
|
|
