Spain Enjoys Strong Opening

(Sunday, June 2, 2002) - Raul Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Valeron and Fernando Hierro scored to give Spain a 3-1 victory over Slovenia Sunday in the opening match for the two Group B teams. The match was held at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium on the southwestern corner of the Korean peninsula on a night of elevated humidity.

The victory broke a 52-year winless spell in World Cup openers for the Spaniards and put them in control of their group. Spain, playing its 11th World Cup, managed its first opening match win since a victory over the United States in 1950.

"It wasn't easy, there are a lot of surprises and all games are very close at this level," said Raul of the match against a hard-working Slovenia side. "There is more to come. I think this is the beginning and everyone is going be surprised at us as we get more confidence. We got through the first game and this is the toughest one.

The Spaniards will take confidence in the fact that their world star, Raul, proved to be the difference-maker they expect him to be. For his 26th international goal, Raul picked off a Slovenia clearing attempt in the 44th minute after teammate Luis Enrique had made a dazzling run into the penalty area. The Real Madrid star then collected a pass at the top of the box, faked a shot to avoid a slide tackle and then slotted a shot past the 'keeper.

"I'm satisfied with my players," said Slovenia Head Coach Srecko Katanec. "Although we conceded three goals, I'm satisfied with my players, especially in the first half. We were aggressive and our defense was good. I was disappointed to give up a goal just before halftime. It was almost Spain's only chance of the first half."

Midfielder Carlos Valeron's first international goal came off an angled shot in the 74th minute and defender Hierro added a penalty kick in the 88th to seal the victory.

"Slovenia probably started the game better but we took over and passed the ball well," said Spanish Head Coach Jose Antonio Camacho. "Slovenia will be a hard team to beat. If we keep playing like this, Spain will do well."

Slovenia, taking part in the competition for the first time, produced its first World Cup goal in the 82nd minute. Second-half substitute Sebastjan Cimirotic's right-footed shot beat Spain's outstretched 'keeper, Iker Casillas. On excellent combination play on the left flank, Cimirotic entered the box and his cool shot fit just inside the left post.

Earlier, Cimirotic received a yellow card for trying to draw a penalty kick after falling down inside the area.

Spain took control of Group B after Paraguay and South Africa played to a 2-2 draw earlier Sunday. Spain plays next against Paraguay on Friday, while Slovenia meets South Africa the following day.

"There are still two games to go," Raul said. "As we have seen in this World Cup, there are no easy games and there are lots of surprises."

"So far, the World Cup has been very balanced," Camacho said. "Unlike in the German game, most games are decided by free kicks and corners. It's been great so far and very nice to watch the matches. There have been some upsets but we've also seen strong teams win, such as Germany.... overall, I think the games will be tight and extremely competitive. I just hope that Spain will continue to do its very best and fight the way we did today."

Slovenia's mentality is the same - the team realizes there are still two matches remaining and two victories against Paraguay and South Africa would give the team the passage to the second round.

"We have come here with special ambitions," Katanec said. "We already achieved a lot in the qualifiers for the tournament. Of course, we are a bit ashamed that we lost but we just try to play our best soccer. The first match is always crucial but we have still two more games to play and we will see."

Scoring Summary:

SPA -- Raul 44
SPA -- Valeron 74
SLO -- Cimirotic 82
SPA -- Hierro 87 (PK)

Lineups:

SPAIN: 1-Iker Casillas (GK), 3-Juanfran Garcia (Romero, 83), 20-Miguel Angel Nadal, 6-Fernando Hierro (C), 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Javi de Pedro, 8-Ruben Baraja, 17-Juan Carlos Valeron, 21-Luis Enrique Martinez (Ivan Helguera, 74), 7-Raul, 10-Diego Tristan (Fernando Morientes, 67)

SLOVENIA: 1-Marko Simeunovic (GK), 3-Zeljko Milinovic, 5-Marinko Galic, 6-Aleksander Knavs, 7-Doni Novak, 8-Ales Ceh (C), 10-Zlatko Zahovic (Milenko Acimovic, 63), 11-Miran Pavlin, 19-Amir Karic (Sasa Gajser, 77), 9-Milan Osterc (Sebastjan Cimirotic, 57), 13-Mladen Rudonja

Referee: Mohamed Guezzaz, Morocco

Notes:

SPA: The win was Spain's first in a World Cup opener since 1950 (vs. USA) ... It was also the second straight World Cup opener to see Raul and Hierro score ... Raul is a nightmare for Slovenia - he also scored in Spain's win against the side at Euro 2000 ... Spain is now 3-5-3 in World Cup openers ... Valeron scored his first international goal ... Hierro is the all-time leader for Spain in goals scored (28) and Raul is just two goals behind him (26) ... Raul is now tied for second all-time (26 goals) with legend Emilio Butragueno ... Another note on Hierro: he has now scored in three consecutive World Cups (four total goals)

SLO: For Slovenia the match marked its World Cup debut ... It is the 30th nation from Europe and 67th overall to play in the World Cup ... The goal by Cimirotic was his second career international goal