Spain want revenge on Greece

Spain's 1-0 victory on Saturday, courtesy of a Juan Carlos Valeron goal and an electrifying performance from Vicente, put them equal on points in Group A with Greece who shocked hosts Portugal 2-1 in the tournament's opening game.

Greece beat Spain in the qualifiers, forcing Inaki Saez's side to come through the play-offs. That defeat remains fresh in the players' minds as they look ahead to a rematch with the Greeks on Wednesday in Porto.

"We do have a bit of desire for revenge after they beat us 1-0 at home but we believe we have more quality and we want to demonstrate it," said Vicente, man of the match against Russia.

"Greece defend well and hit on the counter-attack but we think we can beat them.

"A win would virtually assure us of a place in the quarter-finals. Let's see what happens but we're going for the three points."

Spain, who lost their opening match in Euro 2000, were outstanding in the opening half-hour against Russia, with Vicente and Joseba Etxeberria running riot on the wings and David Albelda and Ruben Baraja dominating the midfield.

Poor finishing by Raul and Fernando Morientes up front prevented them from settling the game, though, and Russia almost caused an upset when Dmitry Alenichev went close with two good opportunities at the end of the first half.

Saez opted to replace Morientes with Valeron just before the hour and the Deportivo Coruna midfielder clinched victory within a minute, threading a shot through a crowd of players.

Saez's decision to leave Valeron out of the starting line-up had been a controversial one. Valeron modestly chose to highlight the efforts of his team mates early in a match played in stifling temperatures despite the evening kick-off.

"Over the first 30 minutes the team worked incredibly hard," Valeron said. "Russia then came back into the game, and physically they were stronger than us, but we played with a lot of intelligence."

Valeron injected calm and confidence into the side and Saez's only problem for the Greece game will be the inevitable clamour from the Spanish media to include the stylish player from the start.