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Jun 9, 2006 

Group H: Spain Wins Unexpectedly Difficult Group


Spain's striker Raul
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.
1>>>SPAIN 7 points. As long as the Spaniards rely on Raul to score goals in a big tournament, the same result will follow. If fellow forwards, Fernando Torres, or more likely David Villa can come through, winning this group will be far more easier. This just may be Spain's year to advance deep into the tournament, but if they do, their psychological fitness may come into question. Fifty years of ineptitude despite quality players is lot to shake in one month.

2>>>UKRAINE 5 pts. They were Europe's first qualifier and seem to be assuming the character of their famous coach, Oleg Blokhin. Whatever question there may be on the backline or in the net are more than made up for with one of the planet's best scorers, Andriy Shevchenko.

3>>>Tunisia 4 pts. Fielding competitive World Cup teams has not been Tunisia's forte. With French coach, Roger Lemerre, this squad could surprise Spain and Ukraine in this group. Tunisian football has become more sophisticated with Lemerre's tactics and imagination. Any two of these three teams could easily advance.

4>>>Saudi Arabia 0 pts. For one, it's hard to distinguish the players on the Saudi Arabian roster. It looks like the same 23 names down the list. There's not much here. This is their fourth straight Cup and very little is still expected from them.

Pivotal Match: Jun 19. ESP 3-1 TUN. In what will be the tournament's most underrated group in terms of parity, the Spanish will set themselves apart from Ukraine and the Tunisia.