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BERNE (SWITZERLAND) - ANOTHER tournament and it seems like Spain are headed for another disappointing campaign.
As Luis Aragones' matadors ready themselves for Russia in their opening Group D game in Innsbruck, Austria, niggling doubts remain.
They are, namely: how to extract the most out of Fernando Torres, addressing the gifted but unbalanced midfield, and beating their bogeyman, Guus Hiddink.
Right-back Alvaro Arbeloa, who understands the Liverpool marksman well at both club and country, reasons that the Reds' quick passing, with balls played into space, gives Torres opportunities to run at defenders.
However, Spain's measured approach of stringing passes across midfield means that Torres' pace is wasted and gives opponents time to barricade the path to goal.
Certainly, the statistics prove that, with the star striker netting 33 goals for the Reds this season while scoring just twice in 14 matches over the last 18 months for Aragones.
Wingers can provide quick, precise and direct service to Torres, but Valencia's Joaquin was overlooked while Vicente was ruled out by injury as Aragones boldly picked a squad with no wide midfielders.
The coach has some of the most talented central players in the engine room but he cannot squeeze them all in.
Some protection is provided by holding midfielder Marcos Senna, but Francesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, all pass-and-move types, are too similar to play together.
Fabregas earned the nod to stay in the middle but that has left Xavi and Iniesta to their own devices on the flanks, which are not their natural positions at Barcelona.
The right-footed Iniesta has been exiled on the left - and that will give defenders precious seconds of reaction time to dispossess him as he switches the ball to his stronger leg.
If Aragones has some urgent trouble-shooting to do, he also has to contend with his country's Hiddink jinx.
In their last competitive rendezvous in Euro 2004, Spain enjoyed a 1-0 win over the Russians during the group stages but it proved inconsequential as both countries tumbled out of contention.
Spain's only international success came in the European Championship, where they beat the former Soviet Union 2-1. But that was 44 years ago.
Hiddink knows the inner workings of Spanish football, having coached Real Madrid, Valencia and Real Betis.
When he masterminded PSV Eindhoven's 1987 European Cup victory, he eliminated Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
In 2002, as coach of South Korea, he led the Asian team to a famous World Cup win in the quarter-finals.
Add to that Zenit St Petersburg's Uefa Cup triumph this season, when they booted out Villarreal along the way, these are favourable times for Russian football.
The Dutchman's calling card, the high-tempo 4-3-3, is tailor-made to counter Spain by not letting them play their natural game.
Incessant pressure will be applied to recover the ball as soon as possession is lost, while the outfield players pour forward on the counter-attack.
But Russia are not without their problems. Playmaker Andrei Arshavin is suspended while another creative midfielder, Pavel Pogrebnyak, is out with a knee injury.
Dynamo Moscow's Igor Semshov, with 27 caps, is a capable replacement as he can operate in defence, attack and wide midfield on both flanks.
Another option is 2007 Russian Footballer of the Year Konstantin Zyryanov, who was the key player in Zenit's Uefa Cup win.
Hiddink's luxury of able deputies is not something Aragones definitely enjoys.
Get ready for more pain for Spain.
meng@sph.com.sg
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