Spanish media generally pleased with World Cup draw

Madrid - The Spanish media were generally pleased with Friday's World Cup draw in Cape Town. The European champions have been drawn in Group H with Switzerland, Honduras and Chile.

Spain will make their debut against Switzerland in Durban on June 16. Four days later they will face Honduras at Ellis Park, then finish against Chile in Pretoria on June 25.

Spain thrashed Switzerland 3-0 in the round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup, but were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Honduras in 1982 when hosting the tournament.

The website of sports daily Marca called it "an easy group", but warned that the round of 16 could be "lethal."

If, as expected, Spain finish top of Group H they will then face the second team in Group G, which is composed of Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea.

Portugal knocked Spain out of the 2004 European Championship, Ivory Coast are considered by many experts to be a good outside bet.

Marca consoles itself with the fact that if, as expected, both Spain and Brazil finish top of their groups then Vicente del Bosque's team would not have to face Brazil until the final.

The website of Catalan newspaper Sport calls it "a comfortable draw."

Radio station Cadena COPE commented that "It has been a rather lucky draw for Spain...There is really nothing to fear about any of the first-round rivals."

Rival radio station Cadena SER pointed out that Spain have done well to avoid "tough European teams" like France, Portugal, Serbia and Denmark.

In addition, according to SER, "it is good to have avoided the African teams, which will be able to count on support from the South African crowds."

Spain - number one in the FIFA rankings - are one of the favorites to win the tournament. They are the reigning European champions, and cruised through the qualifying stage by becoming the first team ever to win every single match in a six-team European qualifying group.

Spain have not been absent from the World Cup finals since 1974, a record bettered only by Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany.

However, the national team has frequently failed to live up to billing at the World Cup. Their best performance was in 1950, when they finished fourth.

Since then they have failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals.