Spain stroll to victory over Saudis
Spain stroll to victory over Saudis
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Friday, 23, Jun 2006 05:32
Spain barely broke sweat in a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in Kaiserslautern this afternoon thanks to a first-half header from defender Gutierrez Juanito, after coach Luis Aragones had named an entirely different line-up to the one that beat Tunisia 3-1 earlier in the week.
That midweek result in Stuttgart had already secured qualification for the group H favourites, and with the Saudis unlikely to produce the shock of the tournament and thrash the Spaniards, top-spot had all been sewn up.
Among Aragones' changes was Real Madrid skipper Raul starting his first game of the World Cup, with veteran keeper Santiago Canizares also coming into the XI.
Alongside Raul in attack was Real Betis winger Joaquin, while Arsenal team-mates Jose Antonio Reyes and Cesc Fabregas both came into a forward minded midfield.
Saudi Arabia's Brazilian coach Marcos Paqueta also made a couple of changes to the side that was comprehensively beaten 4-0 by Ukraine, with experienced frontman Sami Al Jaber regaining his place in attack.
Despite the Asian team having a slim chance of qualifying, they appeared all too happy to sit back and not chase the unlikely win they needed.
The tactics appeared to only play into Spain's hands, however, with Raul and Reyes both having clear-cut chances within the opening four minutes, only to be denied by Saudi keeper Mabrouk Zaid, who would go on to deliver a man of the match performance.
As the half wore on the game struggled to shake off its pre-season friendly appearance, with Spain restricted to testing Zaid from long-range, while the Saudis were simply not presenting an attacking threat.
The goal that Spain deserved finally came on 36 minutes, when Reyes put in a devilishly accurate left-wing free-kick for Betis defender Juanito to power home.
Moments before, Juanito's club-mate Joaquin had threatened to score one of the goals of the tournament so far, jinking through the Saudi rearguard before seeing his powerful drive tipped over by Zaid.
Just before the half-time whistle the Saudis created their first chance of the game, but Al Jaber shot weakly at Canizares.
Aragones' response to a quietly impressive but underwhelming performance was to bring on Valencia striker David Villa for Raul, but Zaid continued to be the bane of the Spanish strikers by making a series of world-class saves, light years ahead of his amateurish performance against Ukraine.
The game was being played at an even slower pace than the first-half, and as news came through that Ukraine had scored against the Tunisians the tempo dropped even further.
Despite an injury to Zaid that left him unable to take goal kicks the Saudis grew in confidence as the second-half progressed, threatening Canizares' goal with a couple of long-range free kicks.
But despite today's anti-climatic performance Spain can feel confident ahead of the knockout stages after qualifying with ease after three wins from three games.
Depending on how tonight's games go in group G, the Spaniards will either be facing Switzerland, France or South Korea in the second-round, but if they can replicate the goalscoring threat they displayed in abundance against Ukraine and Tunisia then none of these teams should stand in the way of their dream of securing a first-ever World Cup title.