As Spain geared up to take part at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Barcelona 1992, they knew that history hadn’t always been kind to the hosts. There had, indeed, not been so much as a final match contested by a home nation since Belgium won the top prize in 1920. A star-studded squad featuring the likes of Alfonso, Luis Enrique, Kiko and captain Pep Guardiola were tasked with breaking that curse, all while Spain won gold in cycling, judo and sailing.

The skipper opened Spain’s account by driving home an indirect free-kick against Colombia in a 4-0 victory, which was followed by 2-0 wins over Egypt and Qatar to top the group. Italy were the quarter-final challengers, pitting Enrique and Guardiola up against Demetrio Albertini and Dino Baggio in a hard-fought battle. Kiko proved the match-winner, chipping Francesco Antonioli after being played through by Paco Soler.
Vicente Miera’s side were just two games away from greatness and faced Ghana in an intriguing Mestalla semi-final. Guardiola lifted a free-kick into the box which Abelardo diverted home, before Rafael Berges’ left-foot piledriver flew into the bottom corner to confirm Spain’s place in the history books. They had become the first host nation to reach the gold medal match in 72 years, while also becoming the first team to reach the final without conceding a goal in 80 years.

Some 95,000 people flocked to Camp Nou to watch the hosts take on 1972 winners Poland. That bumper crowd was silenced when – after more than 500 minutes without conceding – Spain’s defence was breached when Wojciech Kowalczyk broke through to slot beyond Toni Jimenez on the stroke of half-time. Spain levelled when another Guardiola free-kick was converted by Abelardo on 65 minutes and, while Kiko soon made it 2-1, Poland refused to buckle and equalised through Ryszard Staniek. With a matter of seconds to go, however, Kiko capitalised on some penalty-box pinball to fire home a dramatic winner and spark scenes of wild celebration.

“In the end, it was incredible,” Guardiola said years later. “We were lucky to win the gold medal and to have those memories that will always be part of us. The opening ceremony was incredible and the closing one, being there with all the other athletes, was really, really, really cool. It was a really nice experience.”