Spain

The relative lack of success for the national side in a country that has taken so many club honours is a sad state of affairs. But Spain came east with new super-weapons: coach, José Antonio Camacho, who played 15 seasons for Real Madrid and 81 times for Spain; and their pool of players - "La Selección" has what many believe is the best national league in Europe to draw on.

But the players who have been victorious at club level have hitherto failed to perform for the national side. Under coach Javier Clemente, Spain were beaten by Italy in the quarter finals at USA '94, and at France 98 they never recovered after suffering a 3-2 defeat by Nigeria.

Camacho puts greater emphasis on attack, which appears more suited to Spanish players' natural instincts. His influence was evident in at Euro 2000 where star striker Raul missed a late penalty as Spain fell to eventual champions France 2-1 in the quarter finals.

The official squad list as received by FIFA:
Goalkeepers: Santiago Canizares (Valencia)*; Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Ricardo Lopez Felipe (Valladolid)
Defenders: Enrique Fernandez Romero (Deportivo); Juan Francisco 'Juanfran' Garcia (Celta); Miguel Angel Nadal (Mallorca); Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid); Curro Torres (Valencia); Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)
Midfielders: Joaquin Sanchez (Betis), Juan Carlos Valeron (Deportivo); Sergio Gonzalez (Deportivo); Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid); Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona); Francisco De Pedro (Real Sociedad); Luis Enrique Martinez (FC Barcelona); Gaizka Mendieta (Lazio); David Abelda, Ruben Baraja (Valencia)
Forwards: Diego Tristan (Deportivo); Raul Gonzalez, Fernando Morientes (Real Madrid); Alberto Luque Martos (Mallorca).

*Canizares had to cry off injured within days of the deadline for the squadlist, and was replaced by Pedro Contreras.

Spain's coach José Antonio Camacho

Spain's road to the Far East was a relatively smooth one. They finished top of their group ahead of Austria, Israel, Bosnia, and Liechtenstein. Not only did Camacho’s team go undefeated, amassing 25 points with six wins and two draws, they also found the opponents' net 21 times, conceding only four goals in reply.

Conscious of the weight of expectation, Camacho refuses to consider his team one of the favourites, continually reminding a hungry press about their lack of previous success. But the former international left-back knows that his squad has the potential to go a long way.

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