Hopefuls handed Gijon chance

By Iván Modia & Peter Bruun

The last time Spain played a Scandinavian side, they defeated Norway 3-0 in a qualifying play-off second leg to seal a berth at UEFA EURO 2004™. Wednesday's friendly against fellow finalists Denmark in Gijon may lack the intensity of that night in Oslo, but those on the fringes of Iñaki Sáez's thinking will hope for an identical end product - a place in Portugal.

Stiff competition
Nowhere is the competition more fierce for places than in attack. Raúl Tamudo, drafted in for the 2-1 February victory against Peru, has been omitted and Mista overlooked with Sáez calling up Fernando Morientes for the first time during his tenure along with Salva Ballesta. Both have impressed on loan this season: Morientes at AS Monaco FC from Real Madrid CF, and Valencia CF's Ballesta at Málaga CF, for whom he has struck 17 Primera División goals this term.

Morientes strike
With Raúl González nursing a slight muscle problem, Salva could play at the tip of a 4-2-3-1 system, although the prodigious Fernando Torres is pushing hard. Morientes, who scored against Madrid in the UEFA Champions League last week, said: "Up until recently everyone had been saying how difficult it would be to find a striker for the national side. Now it is the coach who is going to have difficulties as so many strikers are playing well."

'Building blocks'
Morientes may be asked to operate behind Salva, together with Joseba Etxeberria and Alberto Luque, as Sáez looks at some of those players on the fringes of the first team. Similarly, in the place of Rubén Baraja and David Albelda, we may see Xabi Alonso and Guti acting as Sáez's "building blocks" in front of the back four. There are enforced changes to the defence, meanwhile, following injuries to Carles Puyol and Iván Helguera. RC Deportivo La Coruña duo Joan Capdevila and César Martín step in.

Tinkering over
Sáez promised that "the game will be a test for my whole squad", meaning those who start on the bench - like Guti and Salva - may get the chance to impress. Spain are in Group A at EURO 2004™ alongside Portugal, Greece and Russia, while Denmark square off against Italy, Sweden and Bulgaria in pool C. Like Sáez, Morten Olsen will experiment on Wednesday, although the tinkering will then stop.

Colding in
With Thomas Helveg, Kasper Bøgelund, Morten Wieghorst, Christian Poulsen, Dennis Rommedahl and Peter Løvenkrands all out injured, a number of hopefuls will have a final chance to curry favour for the final three friendlies against Scotland, Estonia and Croatia. One such player, Søren Colding from VfL Bochum 1848, intends to take his chance. "I have got a chance that I am going to grab - I want to make it hard for the coach to select his squad for Portugal," he said.

Danish experiments
Colding's club colleague Peter Madsen was the man to profit from Ebbe Sand's exclusion, though the FC Shalke 04 striker remains relaxed. "Experiments are necessary and it's good to give the young players a chance at this point," said Sand. His coach agreed, Olsen concluding: "I'll use the game to try out a few things, but my options will be limited because Spain are a good side."