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Spain seek Belfast grand finale

Spain's players are vying for the opportunity to score their country's 1,000th international goal in the UEFA EURO 2008™ Group G qualifier in Northern Ireland.

Spain's players are vying for the opportunity to score their country's 1,000th international goal in the UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier in Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

Magic number
Saturday's 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein in Badajoz in their Group F curtain-raiser has taken the national team to 999 goals since Spain opened their account with a 1-0 win against Denmark in 1920. In pole position to hit the landmark figure at Belfast's Windsor Park is Valencia CF forward David Villa, who scored twice at the weekend to make it seven in 14 appearances since his debut against San Marino in February 2005.

Fine start
"I felt very comfortable during the week in training and now we have to take each game as it comes and collect the points that will take us to EURO 2008," said Villa. "We could have scored more against Liechtenstein, but I think people were satisfied and it's not a bad way to start the competition." Liverpool FC's Luis García registered goal No999 but faces plenty of competition for the honour of scoring the next. "It would be exciting to grab the 1,000th goal, but we haven't made any bets as to who will get it," said Villa.

Happy debutant
One surprise candidate to etch his name into the record books could be Borja Oubiña. The 24-year-old RC Celta de Vigo midfielder made a belated Spain debut as a substitute on Saturday, becoming the 17th newcomer to be capped by Luis Aragonés since the veteran coach took charge in July 2004.