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[Awards Review]
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▶ Spain Beat Slovenia 3-1 in World Cup Opener, End 52-Year Jinx
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[2002/06/03 ]
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Gwangju, June 2 (Yonhap) -- Spain beat Slovenia 3-1 in their first World Cup B Group game on Sunday to quench their thirst for a World Cup kickoff victory that had eluded them for 52 years.
In a highly-charged second match of the group, the Spanish squad overpowered the World Cup debutantes early on, with two powerful freekicks by De Pedro and a dangerous header by Raul.
Raul persevered, however, and shadowing teammate Luis Enrique into the penalty area, the Real Madrid star picked up a deflected ball, and drove a precise left footer past Slovenian goalie Marko Simeunovic with a minute remaining before the break.
After the break, the Spaniards continued to pressure the Slovenians with striker Diego Tristan giving Simeunovic another scare in the 57th minute.
Playing aggressively and giving the defenders little time to recoup, the Spanish side doubled their lead with a well aimed shot by midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron from the right side of the goal area in the 74th minute of play.
The Slovenians managed to hit back with a goal by second-half substitute Sebastjan Cinirotic eight minutes later, making it 2-1.
The jubilation of the Balkan players were short-lived, in the end when Spanish captain Fernando Hierro puts put Spain on scoreboard for the third time with penalty shot 87 minutes into play, following a questionable call by Moroccan referee Guezas Mohamed.
The Slovenian underdogs put up a good front especially in the first half and gave the Spanish defenders and goalie Iker Casillas some close calls, though they were on the whole outclassed by the combined talents and experience of their opponents.
In an interview following the game, Spainish coach Jose Antonio Camacho said he was very happy with the results.
'It is very important to win first match, because it is good capital,' he said, adding he was particularly happy to have broken the half-century old inability of the Spanish side to win the opening match in a World Cup.
Spain have not won an opening World Cup match in 52 years, with their best result being fourth in the 1950 Brazil competition.
He then complimented his players for doing well in the game, and added that Slovenia will be a difficult team to beat in future games.
Srecko Katanec, the Slovenian coach, on the other hand, expressed dissatisfaction with the call of the referee.
'If the referee gave the Spanish side the penalty, he should have awarded one to Slovenia when Sebastijan Cimirotic fell,' he claimed.
But the coach pledged that his team will show the world the kind of soccer it can play in the remaining two first-round matches of the finals.
Meanwhile, Slovenia's Cimirotic was given the first yellow card of the World Cup, by the referee Mohamed Guezzaz for 'hollywood action' in the Spanish penalty area in 20 minutes into the second half.
Spain play Paraguay in Jeonju on Friday, while Slovenia take on South Africa in Daegu the next day.
- Scorers:
Spain - Raul 44, Juan Carlos Valeron 74, Fernando Hierro 87 pen
Slovenia- Sebastjan Cimirotic 82
- Red Card: None
- Halftime: 1-0
- Attendance: 28,598
- Teams :
Spain - 1-Iker Casillas (GK), 3-Juanfran (15-Romero 82), 5-Puyol, 6-Fernando Hierro, 7-Raul, 8-Ruben Baraja, 10-Diego Tristan (9-Fernando Morientes 67), 11-Javi De Pedro, 17-Juan Carlos Valeron, 20-Miguel Angel Nadal, 21-Luis Enrique (4-Ivan Helguera 74).
Slovenia - 1-Marko Simeunovic, 3-Zeljko Milinovic, 5-Marinko Galic, 6-Aleksander Knavs, 7-Doni Novak (14-Sasa Gajser 77), 8-Ales Ceh, 9-Milan Osterc (21-Segastjan Cimirotic 57), 10-Zlatko Zahovic (18-Milenko Acimovic 63), 11-Miran Pavlin, 13-Mladen Rudonja, 19-Amir Karic
- Referee: Mohamed Guezzaz (Morocco) |
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