Joaquin Sanchez - International Career

International Career

Joaquín made his debut for the Spanish national team on 13 February 2002 against Portugal, in a 1–1 friendly played in Barcelona.

Brilliant club form for Betis saw him get called up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he appeared twice. In his second match, the quarter-finals against South Korea, Joaquín was involved in a couple of debatable decisions, including one incident where the linesman raised his flag for a goal kick as Joaquín was crossing a ball to Fernando Morientes, who was denied a golden goal. The argument was that the ball had crossed the line; however, replays showed that it did not. The game then went to penalties, and he was chosen to take Spain's fourth attempt, which was blocked by Lee Woon-Jae.

Joaquín played again for Spain in two out of three games (once as a starter) through the nation's premature exit at UEFA Euro 2004, also being selected for the 2006 World Cup. He totalled five appearances, but was not first-choice at either competition.

During the early stages of the Euro 2008 qualification campaign, Spain lost 2–3 against Northern Ireland. After the match, Joaquín told in a Spanish radio interview: "Right now, the national team is a mess, chaos and Luis doesn't know how to handle it in these difficult moments. I know that what I'm saying is not going to help me get back into the national team, but it's what I feel." He later commented, "The only thing I wanted to say is that these are not clear times for the national squad after losing to Northern Ireland .... but it was not my intention to attack the team or Luis Aragonés".