Spain Beats Slovenia 3-1 in Group B

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 03, 2002

Spain Beats Slovenia 3-1 in Group B

Spain defeated World Cup rookies Slovenia 3-1 in a Group A match in the Gwangju World Cup Stadium on Sunday.

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Spain defeated World Cup rookies Slovenia 3-1 in a Group A match in the Gwangju World Cup Stadium on Sunday.

��Spain, making their 11th World Cup appearance, took the lead asReal Madrid star Raul Gonzalez fired in a low shot in the 44th minute, his 26th international goal.

��Midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron, playing his first World Cup, put Spain 2-0 ahead with an angled goal at the 74th minute.

��Sebastjan Cimirotic pulled one goal back for Slovenia in the 82nd minute as his right-footed shot beat outstretched Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

��Spanish defender Fernando Hierro secured the victory from the penalty spot five minutes later after Fernando Morientes was brought down by Sasa Gajser.

��The victory made Spain top of Group B ahead of South Africa andParaguay, who drew 2-2 in the earlier match.

��"It wasn't easy, there are a lot of surprises and all games arevery close at this level," Raul said. "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.

��"We have three important points and now everything is in our hands," he said.

Spain take on Paraguay on Friday, while Slovenia play against 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."

��Spain:

��1-Iker Casillas (GK), 3-Juanfran Garcia (Romero, 83), 20-MiguelAngel 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 Gonzalez, 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.

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