EURO2004: LUQUE LOOKS FORWARD Today the EURO2004 tournament will start with the match of hosting country Portugal against Greece and the one of Spain against Russia. Deportivo could have all five of its players present at this tournament starting a match today, but it seems only Jorge Andrade will actually do this. This means neither Valeron nor Cesar Martin, Luque and Capdevila will start the match of Spain against Russia. This didn’t prevent Albert Luque from looking forward to the tournament. Q: How did you experience becoming a Spanish international? A: I never had been called up before until Camacho did so before the World Cup 2002 tournament. I remember well that after his telephone call I was very satisfied and I always will be grateful to him. That day was the best one of my career so far, together with the day we beat Milan with Deportivo. Q: Do you consider your pick for this tournament as a reward for your season at Deportivo? A: Yes, I think it had more to do with this than with the matches I have played for Spain. One can always do better, but I am satisfied with how things went this season. I am thankful to Inaki for the confidence he has in me and I hope I can respond to it. Q: Which countries do you consider favourites to win the tournament? A: To me these are Italy, France and Spain… Yeah, I think the winner will come from these three countries. Spain could finally achieve something while France are the current champions. Italy always do well when it matters but without displaying good football. Q: How about the rivals of Spain in the group phase? A: Russia could be one of the surprises this tournament. Meanwhile, Portugal could get a lot of help from their supporters and that’s always something positive. Greece already obligated us to qualify through extra matches and are another difficult rival. It well be three complicated matches and we will have to be focused. Q: What will be the target of Spain? A: I think it will be a big failure if we don’t qualify for the next round. We have the squad to show something and more. Our group of players looks like the one we had two years ago when we were eliminated in such an unfair way. I think we will achieve something these weeks. Q: Should Valeron be a starter for Spain? A: That’s a complicated topic. I think Raul always should play because he’s the captain of the team. Then there’s Morientes who has become topscorer of the Champions League this season. And there’s Fernando Torres, a player with a great future ahead and who could be one of the surprises this tournament. Nobody will question the qualities of Valeron, but Raul must play too. Inaki Saez will have a difficult time picking his players for the matches. Raul is assured of a place while the other three players will fight for two places. Q: Has the fact that you can play at more than one position been to your advantage? A: Yes, I think it has been. It surprised me that Reyes wasn’t picked because he’s very talented. But the coach makes the squad and this could benefit me. At the left only Vicente is my rival and I think it will be the position at which he wants to use me most. That could mean I will have enough minutes to play and to demonstrate Saez that he did the right thing by picking me. Q: Could it resemble your situation at Deportivo of the season 2002/2003 when you were used as a substitute? A: This tournament seems short but in every match it’s about life and death. Anything can happen although there’s not really time to recover. One can play a good match and to be a substitute the next one. I think Vicente has won the place at the left for now, but I want to make it as difficult as possible for the coach. Q: How about the effort the Spanish players already have made this season? A: Real Madrid, Valencia, us…. We already have made many matches and it was a tough season. But we had days to rest and to prepare the tournament. I sincerely think we start this tournament at a good moment. Q: If Spain will reach the final you will miss some of the pre-season at Deportivo. A: Yes, if all goes well the tournament will have just finished when the pre-season starts. But I expect the mister giving us some days off because if not it will be only one week to ten days. The Liga is a large one and we could encounter some problems next season. Anyway, I must be in La Coruna after the tournament because the football campus for children, which I organize, will start then. --

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