Fernando Llorente - International Career

International Career

Llorente represented Spain at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. His five goals won the silver boot as the competition's second highest scorer. He was also capped at under-18 and under-19 levels.

On 14 November 2008, senior national team manager Vicente del Bosque called Llorente up for a friendly against Chile. He was brought on as a substitute in the 72nd minute of the 3–0 win. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 friendly win over England on 11 February 2009, coming off the bench to score in the 64th minute. After netting 14 goals for Athletic in 2008–09, del Bosque named Llorente in his 23-man squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup: he was used as a substitute against hosts South Africa, and scored in a 2–0 victory.

During the 2009–10 season, Llorente was not called-up once, as del Bosque favoured Álvaro Negredo. He would, however, be selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, also in South Africa, as third-choice striker, where he played in one match for the eventual champions, the last 30 minutes of the 1–0 round-of-16 win against Portugal.

On 8 October 2010, benefiting from an injury to Fernando Torres, Llorente started in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Lithuania, in Salamanca. With two headers – his strongest asset – he contributed prominently in a 3–1 win. Four days later, as a substitute, he scored the winner against Scotland in a 3–2 success at Hampden Park. He was selected for the final stages in Poland and Ukraine, being an unused squad member as Spain won another tournament.

Llorente represented the Basque Country national football team five times, making his debut against Cameroon in 2005. He scored one goal for the Euskadi in a match against Catalonia at the Camp Nou, played the following year, and made his last appearance in December 2007.