Morientes shows his class

Spain 4-0 Ecuador

Alonso debut
Spain coach Iñaki Sáez handed a full debut to Real Sociedad playmaker Xabi Alonso as more than 30,000 Ecuadorians turned out to cheer on the South American side, who were unable to reward their supporters with the performance they demanded.

Morientes' night
The night was all about Morientes, who almost opened the scoring as early as the sixth minute after Joaquín's pass from the right found him in space in the box – only for the visiting defence to scramble clear. It was not long, however, before Colombian coach Hernán Dario Gomez's side went behind after Javier De Pedro’s 14th-minute free-kick took a deflection off Iván Hurtado and found its way into the net.

No fluke
But if there was an element of fortune about the first goal, there was no luck involved in the second as Morientes dispossessed Augusto Poroso, turned back inside the struggling defender and slotted past goalkeeper José Cevallos in the 21st minute. Two minutes later, the Madrid forward capitalised on a blunder by defender Ulises de la Cruz following a cross from De Pedro and increased the lead to 3-0.

Ecuador chances
With the game as good as over after just 23 minutes, Ecuador needed to regroup to prevent further embarrassment. This they did, even enjoying a few chances of their own before the interval. The away side almost pulled one back in the 35th minute as Carlos Tenorio met a cross from Iván Kaviedes, forcing a last-gasp clearance from Michel Salgado. Soon after, veteran Alex Aguinaga almost surprised Santiago Cañizares but the Spanish keeper managed to claw his shot over the bar.

All change
Sáez made three changes at half-time, bringing on Raúl Bravo, César Martín and Gabri García but Spain failed to find the rhythm that had served them so well early on. Raúl Bravo, however, was involved in the Spaniards' next opportunity, sending in a dangerous cross that Joaquín just failed to tuck away at the far post.

Morientes hat-trick
Morientes sealed the victory in the 64th minute, collecting his 20th goal in 28 internationals when he raced on to a through-ball from Juan Carlos Valerón, rounded Cevallos and tapped into the far corner. Spain lead UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying group 6 with ten points, four more than second-placed Ukraine. Their next match is against Greece, currently in third place, on 7 June.