2002 FIFA World Cup (tm) Finals - Results & Fixtures - Spain vs Slovenia

2 Jun 2002


Spain	3 - 1	Slovenia
	(HT: 1 - 0)

Game Details
Venue Gwangju World Cup Stadium	Attendance 28598
Referee Mohamed Guezzaz (MAR) Assistant Referees Ali Tomusange (UGA) Egon Bereuter (AUT)

Game Events
#	Date	Player	Event	Period	Mins	H/A
1	2 Jun 2002	Juan Carlos Valeron	Yellow Card	First Half	36	H
2	2 Jun 2002	Raul Gonzalez	Goal	First Half	44	H
3	2 Jun 2002	Amir Karic	Yellow Card	First Half	46	A
4	2 Jun 2002	Milan Osterc	Player Out	Second Half	12	A
5	2 Jun 2002	Sebastjan Cimerotic	Substitute In	Second Half	12	A
6	2 Jun 2002	Zlatko Zahovic	Player Out	Second Half	18	A
7	2 Jun 2002	Milenko Acimovic	Substitute In	Second Half	18	A
8	2 Jun 2002	Sebastjan Cimerotic	Yellow Card	Second Half	20	A
9	2 Jun 2002	Diego Tristan	Player Out	Second Half	22	H
10	2 Jun 2002	Fernando Morientes	Substitute In	Second Half	22	H
11	2 Jun 2002	Juan Carlos Valeron	Goal	Second Half	29	H
12	2 Jun 2002	Luis Enrique Martinez	Player Out	Second Half	29	H
13	2 Jun 2002	Ivan Helguera	Substitute In	Second Half	29	H
14	2 Jun 2002	Djoni Novak	Player Out	Second Half	32	A
15	2 Jun 2002	Sasa Gajser	Substitute In	Second Half	32	A
16	2 Jun 2002	Juan Fransisco Garcia	Player Out	Second Half	37	H
17	2 Jun 2002	Enrique Fernandez Romero	Substitute In	Second Half	37	H
18	2 Jun 2002	Sebastjan Cimerotic	Goal	Second Half	37	A
19	2 Jun 2002	Fernando Hierro	Goal (penalty)	Second Half	42	H

Match report

Perennial World Cup under-achievers Spain were made to sweat before eventually pulling away for a 3-1 victory over tournament debutants Slovenia. Prolific Spanish striker Raul scored in the 44th minute while midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron put the Spaniards two up with a 74th-minute strike. But the Slovenians struck back and seven minutes later substitute Sebastjan Cimirotic recorded the tiny mountainous nation's first World Cup goal to pull his side back into the Group B match. When substitute Milenko Acimovic burst into the penalty area minutes later he went down under the challenge from experienced defender Miguel Angel Nadal but his claims for reward were waved away by the referee. The Slovenians were therefore furious when Fernando Morientes earned a spot-kick for a seemingly soft challenge by Sasa Gajser three minutes later. Veteran Fernando Hierro stroked the penalty past Slovenian goalkeeper Marko Simeunovic to see Spain on the way to what they hope will be a performance that banishes memories of so many poor World Cup displays. Raul's 26th international goal put him level with the now-retired Emilio Butragueno in the all-time Spanish goalscoring list, but captain Hierro still leads them and took his haul to 28 goals with the penalty. Luis Enrique created Raul's goal as he battled through Slovenian defenders before pushing the ball to the striker, whose dummy shook off his marker, leaving him free to slot the ball under Simeunovic as the first half ground to an end.
Raul was relieved that Spain had made a winning start.
"We are happy and relieved," said the Real Madrid forward. "The first match always has the most nerves and tension and we've won it so we're happy and relieved.
"The humidity made us suffer a bit but the victory was the essential thing.
"There are no easy opponents but now we're eager for more and this victory will give us confidence."
But Spain had failed to convert their first-half domination into a substantial lead and Slovenia had threatened to equalise until Valeron's goal, his first for his country. Camacho said ending Spain's winless record in opening World Cup matches going back half a century was a huge weight off his shoulders.
"It was too long. Spanish football is better than this," he said.
"Winning the first game is very important as this is the showcase event of them all.
"Slovenia started better than we did but then we took over. I thought we played well. If we keep on like this we'll be fine," said Camacho.
His side had another solid chance to score from Diego Tristan's powerful second-half drive but it was pushed away by Simeunovic. And Morientes wasted a superb opportunity to score just after being brought on in place of Diego Tristan. Spain had almost conceded an goal in the opening minutes when Slovenia's best-known player Zlatko Zahovic curled in the first corner of the match and Aleksander Knavs' close-range header forced a reflex save from goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Raul then headed straight at Simeunovic from a cross floated in by Javier de Pedro. De Pedro caused Slovenia problems as he bent a free-kick over the Slovenian wall midway through the first half. He came even closer to finding the net from another free-kick within minutes. But the Slovenians had chances too, with Benfica star Zahovic shooting weakly at Real Madrid keeper Casillas and Zeljko Milinovic heading narrowly over the bar from another corner struck sweetly by Zahovic.
Spain went top of their group and now face Paraguay on Friday and South Africa on June 12 - those nations drew 2-2 earlier on Sunday.

(courtesy of dailysoccer)




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Page created by Christakis Ioannou on 2 June 2002 19:22:09.