Spain take heart from France win
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Article summary
Luis Aragonés was "extremely happy" with Spain's 1-0 victory against France, with goalscorer Joan Capdevila determined to "make the most" of the win in Malaga.
Article body
Luis Aragonés was "extremely happy" with Spain's 1-0 win against fellow UEFA EURO 2008™ finalists France, while scorer Joan Capdevila was eager to "make the most" of the success in Malaga.
Relief
Capdevila struck ten minutes from time to earn Spain victory and delight Aragonés, although the coach acknowledged that France duo Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema had been unlucky not to equalise. "France are a big, dangerous team with extraordinary physical strength," Aragonés said. "I'm extremely happy to have won but I have to say we were lucky in the last five minutes."
Living the moment
The victory avenged a 3-1 loss to France at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and Villarreal CF defender Capdevila enjoyed the moment after registering his second international goal in 15 appearances. The 30-year-old said: "I have to make the most of these moments. Any win is always very welcome. It feels great to score against teams the standard of France."
Tight contest
Liverpool FC midfielder Xabi Alonso returned to the side for the first time since September 2007 after recovering from injury, and was pleased to have come out on top after a very competitive fixture. "Our opponents were very good but we managed to hang in there. We had the match under control and scored in the second half to ensure the victory."
Cost of victory
However, the success did not come without its blemishes as Spain had to replace both Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Villarreal defender Ángel López because of injuries. Torres was taken off as early as the 23rd minute with a painful-looking thigh strain, although national team doctors later said the problem was not as serious as first feared. Ángel López is awaiting further tests after damaging knee cartilage.
Philosophical
Meanwhile, France coach Raymond Domenech was his usual sanguine self, saying: "You always lose when your opponents score and you don't, but I think the match was very even and in the end we could have equalised. I'm satisfied with my players' attitude. The negative aspect is that in the second half we lost the ball several times and didn't manage the game as we did in the first period."
