Comfortable win for Spain in Euro warm-up

 MADRID, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish national team enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win over Serbia in their first preparation game for the European Championship this Saturday.

 

Playing in the Swiss town of Saint Gallan, the reigning¹ European and world champions fielded a side without players from FC Barcelona and Athletic² Club Bilbao, who played the Kings Cup final on Friday night.

 

That allowed coach Vicente del Bosque to give debuts³ to several players during the game and Adrian Lopez especially took advantage of his chance.

 

The Atletico Madrid forward scored Spain's first goal in the 64th minute of the game, following a move started by another debutant, Benat Etxabarria, who set up Jesus Navas to cross the ball for Adrian to score.

 

Ten minutes later Adrian provoked a penalty which allowed Santi Cazorla to net Spain's second of the game, although it has to be said that the referee⁴ was generous in giving the penalty given that Adrian looked to have dived under pressure from Serbian defender⁵ Branislav Ivanovic.

 

The first half saw Spain in charge but Del Bosque's side was unable to score despite creating several chances, but it was not until David Silva came into the game at half time that Spain found a cutting edge.

 

Other players who made a good claim for a place in Del Bosque's final 23 man squad⁶, which will be named on Sunday, were right back Juanfran Torres, who played for most of the game.

 

Juanfran looks as if he will be included after it was confirmed that his main rival for the squad, Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Iriola is likely to miss out as a result of pelvic and ankle problems that he has been carrying for the past few weeks.

 

Meanwhile Sergio Ramos played in central defense⁷, which implies he will provide cover for Carles Puyol, while striker Alvaro Negredo was also involved in the first half and could have earned a place in the squad given the absence of Barcelona's David Villa⁸.

 

Spain play South Korea on Wednesday before facing China in Seville on June 3rd.

1 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 debuts   

演员首次演出( debut的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never really debuts the idea of taking money from his parents any longer. 他从此就再也没有认真起过向父母要钱的念头。
• This young soprano debuts next month at the metropolitan opera. 这位年轻的女高音歌唱家下个月将在纽约大都会歌剧院举行首演。

4 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

5 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

6 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。