Cornered Spain fighting for future

Spain’s 2-1 win over Slovenia in Amsterdam on Sunday may have been a less than convincing expression of the side’s Euro 2000 aspirations but it did at least ensure that their fate is in their own hands as the tightest of the four groups comes to a conclusion.

Victory for Jose Antonio Camacho’s side in Bruges would send them through to face either the Netherlands or France in the quarter-finals, while a draw would leave them desperately hoping for a Slovenian victory over Norway in Arnhem. "That win against Slovenia was vital for us, regardless of how it came about," said Raul, whose fourth-minute goal set them on the way to a sketchy victory.

"It’s in our own hands now and we still have great hopes of doing well in this competition. Yugoslavia will be a tough game but I can promise you we’re looking forward to it as this is the one that can book us our place in the last eight."

Yugoslavia could afford to draw the match and still make it through at least as runners-up but their coach Vujadin Boskov is ruling out a defensive approach. "If we don’t want to win the match then it would be better for us to stay in the hotel," said Boskov, who is expected to recall Lazio’s Sinisa Mihajlovic following his sending-off against Slovenia but otherwise leave unchanged his starting line-up from Sunday’s 1-0 win over Norway.

Spain have beaten Yugoslavia in eight of the 18 meetings between the two sides, losing just five, but Boskov insists their superior record will count for nothing. Camacho will have to decide whether to stick with the same side that at least showed plenty of fighting spirit in coming back from Slovenia’s second-half equaliser to win with a Joseba Etxeberria goal.

Whatever the line-up, the match should feature several intriguing confrontations between players who know each other all too well at club level. The ability of centre-back Fernando Hierro to limit the influence of his former team mate Predrag Mijatovic — who scored the winning goal for Real Madrid in the 1998 European Cup final — will be a crucial one, while Savo Milosevic will hope to continue the form that saw him score 21 league goals last season for Real Zaragoza.

At the other end, Miroslav Djukic will have no excuses for not anticipating the threat of his Valencia colleague Gaizka Mendieta, whose driving performance from midfield carried Spain to victory against Slovenia.

The match will also see Spanish coach Camacho fighting a tactical battle with his former mentor Boskov, who had a spell in charge of Real Madrid when the Spaniard was winning plaudits as an uncompromising left-back.

There will be nothing friendly about the proceedings, though, according to Spanish keeper Santiago Canizares. "If you want to win big tournaments like this one you have to be prepared to suffer," he said. "We know it’s not going to be easy against Yugoslavia — it never is when you have to win." (Reuters)