Friendly international

Spain 1 - Bulgaria 0

Spain beat Bulgaria in this friendly match thanks to an early goal from Atlético Madrid's José Mari. The young striker was recalled to the squad in the absence of Raúl, and he took his chance well, turning in a cross from Vicente in the tenth minute for his first full international goal. However the game's initial promise soon fizzled to nothing, and there were few scoring chances for either side in the remaining eighty minutes. Only Guti's header against the post on the stroke of half time from Mendieta's free kick, a header from Borimirov a few minutes earlier which Casillas stopped with his feet, and little else. Half of the players on the pitch were in any case trying to stay out of trouble to be fit for the big match on Saturday between Barcelona and Real Madrid, although Salgado and Helguera both took knocks which they hopefully seemed to shake off. A bi of a disappointment though, especially coming on the heels of the under 21 performance the night before. (20.11.02)