[Pichi]

Armenia v Spain: Preview

Updated: October 9, 2009, 12:57 PM ET

Spain defender Carles Puyol has warned Armenia that his side will still be gunning for all three points tomorrow even though their spot in next year's World Cup finals is already safely secured.

With eight wins out of eight, Spain are guaranteed to finish top of Group Five and as such coach Vicente del Bosque is set to mix things up for the final two qualifiers against Armenia tomorrow and Bosnia-Herzegovina next Wednesday.

Del Bosque has revealed he is likely to use as many of his 24-man squad as possible in the two fixtures, but that does not mean the European champions are not committed to taking maximum points and finishing their qualifying campaign with a 100% record.

"Against Armenia we will go out to win as always. It's important you give a good impression of yourselves in every international,'' said Barcelona captain Puyol ahead of tomorrow's clash in Yerevan.

"We have to do well because there are few chances to be able to play together and you need to take advantage of all the matches.

"The coach will prepare as well as possible and we will go out to do well.''

Spain downed Armenia 4-0 in the previous meeting between the two sides in Albacete last year following goals from David Villa (two), Joan Capdevila and Marcos Senna.

That was one of six defeats Armenia suffered in their first seven qualifiers - with the other match finishing in a draw - and any outside hopes they had of making the World Cup finals died some time ago.

However, they caused a huge upset in their last match when they stunned Belgium 2-1 at home last month thanks to goals from Hovhannes Goharyan and Sargis Hovsepyan.

Armenia are still bottom of Group Five despite that win, but Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso believes Vardan Minasyan's side will be going all out to add the scalp of the European champions to that of the Belgians.

"Armenia will have gained a lot of confidence after beating Belgium in their last match, and they are going to try to do the same thing against us,'' said the Real Madrid man.

"We must prepare for the game in the same way as usual, regardless of the fact that we have already qualified and they are eliminated.''

Alonso also played down the realistic possibility that Spain could finish qualifying with a perfect 10-out-of-10 record, adding: "Records may be important but the best thing is to continue winning games, that the momentum continues to be good and the the feeling in the squad is positive.

"To continue progressing in the little time that the calendar allows us to play together is the most important thing.''

It remains to be seen exactly what teams Del Bosque puts out against Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, but strikers Villa and Dani Guiza have both been struck down by injury which could lead to Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo making his international debut tomorrow.

Whether Negredo starts or not against Armenia could depend on the fitness of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, who suffered a scare earlier this week when he limped out of training with a groin problem but it is not thought to be serious.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas will also be keen to hear Del Bosque's plans as he only needs two more appearances to become just the third Spain player to win 100 caps, following in the footsteps of Andoni Zubizarreta and Raul.

Something else for Del Bosque to take into consideration is the fact that eight players are within one booking of a one-match ban.

Therefore Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos and Andoni Iraola could each miss the opening match of the World Cup if they pick up a yellow card in the final game against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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Reina
Sergio Ramos -- Marchena -- Puyol -- Monreal
Senna
Mata -- Xavi -- Cesc -- Cazorla
Torres

Substitutes:
Casillas, Piqué, Xabi Alonso, Negredo, Iraola, Iniesta, Riera




Image from Friday's training session.

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Halftime

Armenia 0-1 Spain
0-1 : Cesc 33'

[unclesox]

Fulltime

Armenia 1-2 Spain
0-1 : Cesc 33'
1-1 : Arzumanyan 58'
1-2 : Mata (pen) 64'

[unclesox]

FIFA World Cup Qualification - Group 5
Yerevan - Vazgen Sargsyan Hanrapetakan

Armenia 1-2 Spain
0-1 : Cesc 33'
1-1 : Arzumanyan 58'
1-2 : Mata (pen) 64'







Reina
Sergio Ramos -- Marchena -- Puyol -- Monreal
Senna
Mata -- Xavi -- Cesc -- Cazorla
Torres

46' Piqué for Marchena
55' Negredo for Torres
67' Iniesta for Mata

Referee: Jiri Jech (Czech Republic)
BOOKINGS
18' Marchena
65' Puyol
87' Hovsepyan (foul on Iniesta)

Spain extends their record unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying to 44 matches.

Puyol's booking means he is suspended from Wednesday's match away to Bosnia-Herzegovina.



GROUP 5
Estonia 0-2 Bosnia-Herz
Belgium 20:45 Turkey

Spain .............. 27 pts
Bosnia/Herz ...... 19
Turkey ............. 12
Belgium .............. 7
Estonia .............. 5
Armenia ............. 4

Spain wins group, qualifies directly for South Africa 2010.
Bosnia/Herzegovina finishes second, will play off for World Cup spot.