section_path: Playing career/International
section_name: International
paragraph_text: International
  
  Luis Enrique played for Spain in three FIFA World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 (as well as UEFA Euro 1996), and scored 12 goals while gaining 62 caps. He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and made his debut for the main side on 17 April 1991, featuring for 22 minutes in a 0–2 friendly loss to Romania in Cáceres.
  
  In the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, Enrique scored his first international goal, in the round-of-16 3–0 win over Switzerland in Washington, D.C. In the 2–1 quarter-final defeat against Italy at Foxboro Stadium, Mauro Tassotti 's elbow made contact with his face to bloody effect, but during the match the incident went unpunished – Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards; when Spain met Italy at Euro 2008 on 22 June, to battle for a place in the semi-finals, Luis Enrique reportedly called for the team to "take revenge" for the 1994 World Cup incident by beating Italy. Tassotti, an assistant coach with AC Milan at the time, told the newspaper Marca that he was tired of always being reminded of this incident, and that he had never intended to hurt the Spaniard.
  
  At the 1998 World Cup, Enrique played a major role in a 6–1 rout of Bulgaria in the last game of the group, scoring and assisting once and also winning a penalty, but the Spaniards were eliminated nonetheless. On 5 June of the following year he scored a hat-trick, in a 9–0 win in Villarreal over San Marino in the Euro 2000 qualifiers.
  
  On 23 June 2002, Enrique retired from international football, in order to give the younger players more playing time and focus only on his club.
  
  Luis Enrique played for Spain in three FIFA World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 (as well as UEFA Euro 1996), and scored 12 goals while gaining 62 caps. He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and made his debut for the main side on 17 April 1991, featuring for 22 minutes in a 0–2 friendly loss to Romania in Cáceres.
  
  In the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, Enrique scored his first international goal, in the round-of-16 3–0 win over Switzerland in Washington, D.C. In the 2–1 quarter-final defeat against Italy at Foxboro Stadium, Mauro Tassotti 's elbow made contact with his face to bloody effect, but during the match the incident went unpunished – Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards; when Spain met Italy at Euro 2008 on 22 June, to battle for a place in the semi-finals, Luis Enrique reportedly called for the team to "take revenge" for the 1994 World Cup incident by beating Italy. Tassotti, an assistant coach with AC Milan at the time, told the newspaper Marca that he was tired of always being reminded of this incident, and that he had never intended to hurt the Spaniard.
  
  At the 1998 World Cup, Enrique played a major role in a 6–1 rout of Bulgaria in the last game of the group, scoring and assisting once and also winning a penalty, but the Spaniards were eliminated nonetheless. On 5 June of the following year he scored a hat-trick, in a 9–0 win in Villarreal over San Marino in the Euro 2000 qualifiers.
  
  On 23 June 2002, Enrique retired from international football, in order to give the younger players more playing time and focus only on his club.