Spain's U21 Euro 2011 winning side and where they ended up

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By Danny Ryan

Published Apr 14, 2017

It was a pretty special team

Before they finally secured international success at Euro 2008, Spain were the serial under-achievers of world football.

Sure, they were always blessed with star players with the likes of Raul Gonzalez, Fernando Hierro and Emiliano Burtragueno but glory was hard to come by for the European nation.

However, after their maiden success, Spain embarked on four years of total dominance, winning the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

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It was one of the finest sides ever assembled but few remember that in 2011, La Roja had a U21 Euro winning side that looked destined to continue their years of success.

So far, the side who won that trophy have been a mixed bag. Some have gone on to succeed hugely but as of yet, few have them have established themselves in the senior squad.

Perhaps the biggest success of Luis Milla's side was the goalkeeper, Manchester United's David de Gea. The former Atletico Madrid shot-stopper has now succeeded Iker Casillas and is seen by many as the second-best keeper in the world - behind Germany's Manuel Neuer.

The back-four comprised of a few relatively unknown entities. The right-back, Martin Montoya, is perhaps the biggest household name of all and the former Barcelona prospect can now be found in Valencia where he is enjoying something of a career renaissance.

Another Barca youth product, Alberto Botia, was in the heart of the defence, however, he only managed one appearance for the Blaugrana. Now, the 28-year-old is in Greece with Olympiakos.

His partner, Alvaro Dominguez, managed to earn two senior caps for Spain during his days with Atletico and Borussia Monchengladbach but, sadly, he had to retire in December 2016 due to a back injury - he was just 27.

Didac Vila was the left-back, an ever-present in the victorious 2011 side, but a rather journeyman career, which included a failed stint at AC Milan, has seen him, like Botia, end up in Greece, playing for AEK Athens.

The midfield has some fairly familiar faces with Bayern Munich duo Javi Martinez and Thiago Alcantara in the holding midfield roles. The former is currently more of a squad player but the latter has grown into perhaps the most complete midfielder in world football right now.

In front of the Bayern duo sit another trio of well-known stars. Manchester United pair Ander Herrera and Juan Mata occupy two of the attacking midfield roles with Athletic Bilbao's Iker Munain completing the trident.

Mata was the player of the tournament after some truly dazzling performances and was already cemented as a world star. Herrera even back then was rather unsung, quietly going about his business, similar to the role he plays at United now.

Munain was the true youngster of the group, playing the final at just 18 but has sadly seen his career with Bilbao interrupted by injury. Once seen as the future poster boy of Spanish football, many are hoping that he will soon fulfil his enormous potential.

The tip of the team and the main striker was Adrian Lopez, who seemed destined for the top after a free transfer to Atletico. The forward established himself as a key member of Diego Simeone's side but then seemed to just disappear.