Youthful Spain faces experienced France

Youthful Spain faces experienced France   

 

Associated Press

 

KAMEN, Germany -- Spain is quick, confident and eager to shed its tag as underachiever. France, full of veterans from its 1998 World Cup title, looks to dispel the impression it is too old to win.

 

So it`s Spanish youth and ambition pitted against French experience Tuesday in the second round of the World Cup.

 

``The French team is good physically, so age won`t be a factor, but experience might be,`` France defender Willy Sagnol said. ``It`s better to have a team crammed full of experience rather than the other way around.``

 

Spain earned three straight wins in the first round, while France had to settle for second place in Group G with two draws before a 2-0 win against Togo.

 

``They ended up in second place for a reason. I don`t think that it was by accident,`` Spain striker Fernando Torres said. ``We know that it is a great team, and we have respect for them as (former) world champions, but we don`t have any fear.``

 

Between racial insults, missed penalties and individual rivalries, there are plenty of scores to settle on both sides.

 

Spain has never won a competitive match against France, a fact that irks the Iberians as much as their failure to win a World Cup title. And the Spaniards have not advanced past the World Cup quarterfinals since placing fourth in 1950.

 

Spain coach Luis Aragones dismissed suggestions his team might get increasingly anxious the higher it climbs in the tournament.

 

``I don`t have vertigo,`` he said. ``I think we will end up winning. The bigger the match, the less vertigo I feel.``

 

Aragones said the key against France was to maintain possession, employing skillful midfield playmakers such as Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fabregas.

 

But France coach Raymond Domenech said Spain wasn`t the only team that likes to take command of the game.

 

``We know they like to keep the ball. Spain has always played that way,`` he said. ``But they didn`t buy the ball. They don`t have a divine right to it. We can have it as well.``

 

Many of France`s 1998 veterans remain, including Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane, who is retiring after the World Cup.

 

The match in Hanover will provide some less-than-cheerful reunions.

 

Aragones and Henry are not the best of friends after Aragones` used a racist remark in referring to the France striker while trying to motivate Jose Antonio Reyes, an Arsenal teammate of Henry.

 

Henry said he had put the 2004 incident behind him.

 

``The whole affair has been closed for me for a long time now,`` he said.

 

For Henry, Tuesday`s game will also offer a rematch against Spain`s defensive commander, Carles Puyol of Barcelona. The two last met in May when Arsenal lost the European Champions League final to Barcelona.

 

``If he gets a lot of space to run, then he is very dangerous, and we have to try to prevent that from happening,`` Puyol said. ``We can`t do man-on-man marking, but make sure that he doesn`t receive the ball easily. And above all, not obsess with Henry, but focus on their whole attack.``

 

If Spain wins, it would be Zidane`s last match, which Spanish sports daily Marca noted with the headline: ``We are going to retire Zidane.``

 

But French players have other ideas.

 

``They think they`ve already beaten us,`` France defender Eric Abidal said. ``But the hardest is yet to come for them. Spain have got technical players, but they don`t have a Zidane. Zidane is a competitor who only knows the top level. He is a winner.``

 

For France, Abidal and Zidane are returning from suspension, meaning Mikael Silvestre and David Trezeguet likely will be relegated to the bench.

 

Coincidentally, Tuesday`s match marks the 22nd anniversary of one of Spain`s most bitter soccer memories: the 1984 European Championship final it lost to France 2-0.

 

France beat Spain in the same tournament in 2000, this time in the quarterfinals after Raul Gonzalez botched a last-minute penalty kick.

 

Raul could get his revenge on his 29th birthday. Fabien Barthez is still guarding France`s goal, and the Real Madrid striker looks likely to return to the starting lineup after playing with the substitutes in the group stage.

 

``I hope things will be different, above all, that the result is in Spain`s favor,`` Raul said. ``I think we can do a lot of damage to them.``