Spain's go-to guy Raul Gonzalez gave his team the lead when he faked out a Slovenian defender and slid to kick the ball into the left side of the goal before another defender could block it.

The second goal of the match, which was held in Gwangju, Korea, was scored by Spanish midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron on a perfectly-placed cross pass from midfielder Ruben Baraja. The goal by Valeron was equally skillful as he caught the goalkeeper extending to his left and tapped the ball into the opposite side of the net.

Slovenia finally got on the scoreboard in the second half; much to the chagrin of Spanish head coach Jose Antonio Camacho, whose underarms by then were already drenched from all the tension; when forward Sebastjan Cimirotic, who entered the game late in the 57th minute, received a pass inside the penalty area and tucked the ball to the right of the Spanish goalkeeper. Cimirotic was a headache for Spain's defense all night and was easily Slovenia's best player.

But Spanish defender Fernando Hierro was awarded a penalty kick in the 87th minute when teammate Fernando Morientes was hauled down at the edge of the goal area, and he made no mistake, converting it to give Slovenia a commanding 3-1 lead. Hierro's goal took the life out of Slovenia and effectively dashed any hopes it had of making a comeback.

Spain next takes on Paraguay in Jeonju on June 7, while Slovenia will duke it out with South Africa the next day in Daegu. (Glen Choi, glen@chosun.com )