Spain's win over nine-man Belgium fails to convince

Spain's 2-0 win over nine-man Belgium in a World Cup qualifying match was a vital victory but failed to dispel doubts about the national squad, Spanish media agreed yesterday.

Spain chalked up their first win of the qualifying campaign on Saturday after the build-up to the game was overshadowed by controversy over coach Luis Aragones' disparaging comments about France forward Thierry Henry.

But Spanish newspapers said the win, which came after the team was heavily criticised following a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Bosnia in their opening World Cup qualifier, was not entirely convincing.

"Spain is consoled with very little," El Pais said.

"The team is having a bad time," Mundo Deportivo added.

Mundo Deportivo said there were doubts about what would have happened if the referee had not sent off Belgian defender Eric Deflandre after just 28 minutes.

"The team was beginning to look impotent, but the numerical superiority decided the clash," it said.

Belgian midfielder Bart Goor was also dismissed for spitting 24 minutes from time, but by then Spain had already wrapped up victory with goals from Albert Luque and Raul, who has recovered his scoring touch and notched up his 40th goal for Spain on the eighth anniversary of his debut for his country.

El Pais faulted Spain for not taking advantage of its numerical superiority to score more goals that would have helped restore faith in the team after its disappointingly early exit from Euro 2004.

The win puts Spain alongside Serbia and Lithuania at the top of Group Seven, with all three sides having earned four points from their first two matches.