Slovakia believe against the odds

In the mire
The visitors' had regained a foothold in the tie when Szilárd Németh struck after 49 minutes in Madrid to make the score 2-1. Within 16 minutes, however, disaster had struck. Roman Kratochvíl unluckily conceded a penalty after handling the ball as he slid on a slippery surface while making a tackle, and team-mate Marián Had was sent off in the ensuing protest. The third goal followed directly, leaving Slovakia in the mire.

Keeping the faith
Had will be joined on the sidelines at the Tehelné Pole stadium by captain Miroslav Karhan, who is also suspended, and coach Galis, who serves a ban following his own first-leg dismissal. For all these adverse conditions, Galis is staying positive, saying: "I believe in miracles. The match in Spain is history, and the game goes on even after the 5-1. I still trust in my players and we will do our best to achieve the best possible result."

Lessons of history
The ideal result, of course, would be a 4-0 victory, but what price one of those? Only five times in their history have Spain lost by four goals or more, with three of those occasions preceding the 6-1 thrashing by Brazil at the 1950 World Cup and just a 6-2 friendly defeat by Scotland succeeding it. Moreover, the last time 'la selección' conceded four goals was in a 4-1 reverse against Germany five years ago, and even a repeat of that result would not be enough.

National pride
Nonetheless, there is pride at least to play for. Vratislav Greško, who will vie for a left-back slot with Marek Čech, said: "The second leg will be very tough, but we must still try to turn it around as we are playing for the national team." Vladimír Janočko and Matej Krajcik compete for a midfield berth, while Kratochvíl will skipper the side.

Aragonés warning
Spain coach Luis Aragonés certainly expects a passionate response from the Slovakia players following their Madrid mauling. "Slovakia will go into the game with great motivation, and they will try to score early to try and seize control of the match," he said. "In the first leg, we tried to attack from the start, now we will focus more on the defence."

'Show respect'
Although Aragonés put Spanish chances of progress at 99.9 per cent, the risk of complacency was underlined by defensive pillar Carles Puyol, who added: "We must play with the same passion as in the first match, that is very important. We have to go out there with respect for the opposition."

World Cup dream
For a visiting team missing midfielder David Albelda through suspension, the 90 minutes' concentration and commitment could ultimately be worth more than a place in Germany. According to captain Raúl González, Spain have "never been stronger" and "can go very far" should qualification be secured on Wednesday night. Slovakia may yet have something to say about that.