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Saez delighted with Spain's flying start to qualifiers
© Reuters 2002
Spain coach Inaki Saez said he was delighted with his side's perfect start to their Euro 2004 qualification campaign after they took a comfortable 3-0 win over a defence-minded Northern Ireland on Saturday.
"It gives me great satisfaction to see that we have now got six points," Saez was quoted as saying by Spanish sports daily As on Sunday.
"That is going to take the pressure off us to a certain extent and will allow us to approach future matches in a more relaxed frame of mind."
Spain opened their qualification campaign with a 2-0 victory in Greece last month and now top group six, two points ahead of Ukraine who grabbed a 2-0 home win over the Greeks on Saturday.
Saez's side dominated the game against a determined and well-organised Northern Ireland team out to avoid a repetition of the 5-0 drubbing they received last time the two sides met in a World Cup warm-up match in April.
Valencia midfielder Ruben Baraja opened the scoring with a well-timed header on 19 minutes and Guti added a second 14 minutes into the second half when he nodded home a fine cross from young winger Vicente.
Baraja capped a fine individual performance when he wrapped up the scoring with a powerful deflected drive a minute before time.
"The scoreline could have been a lot more favourable as we dominated so completely," said Saez.
"I was very happy with the way we played and it was good to see that we managed to get the early goal we needed."
Saez admitted that he was likely to make a string of changes to the side for their friendly against Paraguay on Wednesday and said that he would rest Raul after the Real Madrid striker felt a recurrence of a leg injury during the match.
"I will make a number of changes for the next match, although I will make sure the team is as competitive as possible," he said.
"Raul felt his injury again and will now be leaving the squad so that he can recover fully for his next club match."
Spain now have a five-month break before they play their next qualifier in Ukraine at the end of March.
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