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Hierro calls for Real spirit

AP, Ulsan
Winning cups almost comes natural to Fernando Hierro playing with legendary soccer club Real Madrid. But this, his fourth World Cup, may be his last opportunity to win even one with the Spanish international side.
Fresh off winning a record ninth European Champions League cup for Madrid last month, Hierro, 34, believes his club experience and that of his teammates will help Spain finally snap its negative run in international tournaments.
"We're coming on a high after winning the European cup," he said Tuesday. "We've all come determined to do something great here. We've won something very important for our club, the ninth cup ... this feat and the high we've come on make us much more determined and better prepared for the World Cup."
Spain boasts four other Real Madrid stars besides Hierro, including the team's first keeper, Iker Casillas, and star forward Raul Gonzalez.
Hierro also believes that this Spanish side will benefit from the experience of players from other Spanish teams that have been leaving their mark in Europe in recent years.
"Spanish football in the past four years, with clubs like Barcelona, Madrid, Deportivo and Valencia, has been at the top of European competition. This should help us take on the World Cup with more experience."
Spain, playing its 11th World Cup, will be battling to throw off its reputation as an underachiever. Its initial aim is to get past the hurdle of the quarterfinals, something it hasn't done for 50 years. The only trophy it
has ever won was the 1964 European Championship.
Hierro feels this time is different.
"This is a team that wants to win, that has a lot of hopes that once and for all it will be able to do something in the World Cup finals."
Another problem plaguing Spain for a half century is its inability to win its first game in international tournaments.
Spain takes on Slovenia in its inaugural match on Sunday. It then plays Paraguay and South Africa. "We have a dream of changing that first game which historically has never gone well for us," said Hierro, who despite being a defender is the Spain's leading scorer with 27 goals in 85 games.
"It's a key issue in a group with so few teams. It calms things down going into the second and third games. We're optimistic we can win the first game. We have to play it as if it were the only match, to win it no matter what."
Hierro has painful memories of the last World Cup when after twice taking the lead against Nigeria in its opening match, the side slumped in the final quarter and went from leading 2-1 to lose 3-2. It was eventually eliminated after the first round.
"You always think back over things, but it's in the past. You can't resolve that now," said Hierro. "Now, we just want the competition to start as soon as possible."
But neither does Hierro think Sunday's match against Slovenia will be a piece of cake. The two sides met in Euro 2000 when Spain had to fight bitterly for a 2-1 win.
"They're like us, they practically haven't changed since Euro 2002 and are with the same coach," he said. "That game we won 2-1 but there's no comparison. This time it's a case of the first game and who is superior.
"Slovenia is a rival with the experience of a European championship and now it's in a World Cup, which shows it must be doing good work... We're going to encounter a difficult team."