Euro 2000 Group C - Spain v Yugoslavia Preview

Spain face a difficult afternoon in Bruges against a resurgent Yugoslavia if they are reach the quarter finals at Euro 2000.

With Norway also in with a chance of making the last eight today's clash of the top two in Group C could be very tense.

Both sides believe they are good enough to progress but arguably only the Yugoslavs have shown commanding form so far.

Vujadin Boskov's team passed Norway into the ground on Sunday night and were never in danger of surrendering a narrow 1-0 lead such was their technical superiority.

This same Norway team rolled over Spain and made Jose Camacho's team look short of ideas.

Now Spain have to build on the modest improvement they showed against a spirited Slovenia team at the weekend and secure the place among the elite that many predicted before the tournament would be theirs.

The return of the over rated Sinisa Mihajlovic to the Yugoslav defence after a one match suspension could prove helpful to the Spanish cause.

The lazy Lazio defender was partly responsible for a 3-0 lead established by Slovenia in the Yugoslav's opening match and the Yugoslavs rely too much on the defender's corners and free kicks when he is in the side.

Mihajlovic's lack of pace could be exposed by Raul Gonzalez who is only showing glimpses of his best form so far. One stunning goal from the Real Madrid star should serve as sufficient warning that Yugoslavia's tendency to play zonal marking in their defence when Mihajlovic plays could give too much space to the Spain star.

Spain will have to be more subtle in their attacking play than anything Norway managed. Camacho's team were predictable against the Slovenians and almost threw away the lead.

The main Spain tactic against Slovenia ran as follows - Guardiola or Hierro gives the ball wide to Aranzabal on the left and he hits a long pass or cross.

The Yugoslav defence can defend against that very well so more is demanded of the Spanish midfield. In particular the out of form Guardiola and Gaizka Mendieta have to create better passing moves to cash in on Raul's ability to lose markers.

Yugoslavia have been showing some of the best passing moves in the entire tournament and the magisterial Dragan Stojkovic has been dictating the play for his side.

The veteran looks a class above any other midfield creative player at Euro 2000 but he will be harassed throughout today's match by the hard running of Exteberria, Mendieta and Valeron.

Stojkovic's ability to use the ball and lose such attention will see if Yugoslavia win the match or not.

A draw could be good enough for the Yugoslavs to progress but Spain would then ne in danger of elimination if Norway are winning. In form striker Savo Milosevic knows the Spanish stars well after two seasons scoring goals for Real Zaragoza and the supply to the big striker from Drulovic has been one of the best attacking combinations on show at Euro 2000 so far.

It is hard to see a Yugoslavia side that is concentrating letting Spain get anything more than a draw and then the much touted Spain team will be relying on help from Slovenia who are still in contention to progress themselves.

Half Time score - 0-0

Full Time score - Yugoslavia 1 Spain 0

First scorer - Savo Milosevic

Number of corners - 12