GROUP D: Spain vs. Paraguay
SITE: Saint-Etienne.
TIME: Noon. TV: ESPN, Ch. 34. RADIO: KWKW (1330 Spanish).
* ABOUT SPAIN: All of Spain has spent the last six days debating the merits of Coach Javier Clemente’s decision to stick with 36-year-old goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, whose bungled handling of a weak shot by Nigeria’s Garba Lawal resulted in the eventual margin of victory in a 3-2 Nigeria upset. “I still have full confidence in Zubizarreta,” Clemente said earlier this week. “He is a true professional.” Said Zubizarreta: “At my age and with my competitive experience, I don’t let critics keep me from sleeping. At this point, I’m quite capable of analyzing my mistakes myself. Of course, I regret that costly error, but believe me, it’s not over yet and you haven’t seen the last of us.”
* ABOUT PARAGUAY: The criticism of Zubizarreta in the Spanish media has been so intense, his counterpart for Paraguay, Jose Luis Chilavert, has been moved to empathy. “Andoni Zubizarreta is one of the best goalkeepers I know,” Chilavert said. “Everyone makes mistakes, but the press was really hard on him.” Chilavert shut out Bulgaria to earn Paraguay a point with a 0-0 draw, but a win today would really help the team remain in contention for a berth in the second round; Paraguay closes group play against Nigeria.
* OUTLOOK: Zubizarreta won’t win a World Cup for anybody, but he should be enough to get Spain to the second round. A few shaky moments early, but Zubizarreta hangs in to turn back Paraguay and give Spain its first victory of the tournament.