BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Spain are determined to make a historic breakthrough to gain final victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, a fantastic feat that may shed their black tag of "underachievers".

    Bad luck has long been a company with Spain in big events. The Iberians only tournament triumph came more than 40 years ago at the 1964 UEFA European Championship, while their best result at a FIFA World Cup was back at Brazil 1950, when they finished fourth. But in their eighth consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals since 1978, the Spaniards have enough good reasons to list themselves among the favorites for the highest glory.

    Having been drawn with World Cup debutants Ukraine, underdogs Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, Spain seem to enjoy the biggest chance to top Group H and then get an advantageous position at the next stage. If the quarter-finals nightmare (Spain lost to Italy due toRobert Baggio's crucial goals at USA 1994, and suffered the same fate to hosts South Korea after the penalty shootout in 2002.) won't trouble the Spanish side this time, they are more than likely to cruise through to the final.

    Luis Aragones boasts a shinning squad of world class players, and a perfect selection at the midfield is a case in point. In thecenter half they have inventive playmakers like Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, and solid defensive player like Valencia's David Albelda.

    Along the flanks they have inspiring wingers like Jose AntonioReyes, Joaquin and Luis Garcia. It's a functional midfield with excellent ability in both the attack and defence.

    The forward line is led by the pair of "talisman" Raul Gonzalezand Atletico prodigy Fernando Torres, which contributed 10 of Spain's qualifying 25 goals with a comprehensive mix of speed, height, deftness, dribbling and finishing skills. In case that both players are short of form, Valencia's talented hitman David Villa will still pose big threats to whatever opponent they meet.

    Defence seems to be the weakest point for the Spaniards. Although Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina and Santiago Canizares are top goalkeepers in the world, a lack of safe defenders is a serious problem Aragones has to face, especially when they are under heavyfire. Carles Puyol is the best center back, but it's hard to find an equally impressive peer. Carlos Marchena, Sergio Ramos, Pablo Ibanez, Juanito are options but haven't proved themselves in big occasions. Asier del Horno is for the left back position, while Michel Salgado is for the right one, but all these are noted more for their assists.

    Spain have remained unbeaten in 19 games since Luis Aragones took office in the summer of 2004. But their qualifying campaign was not smooth as Serbia and Montenegro grabbed the first place atGroup 7, and the "matador" had to sweat it out a bit longer with atwo-legged play-off with the Slovakians. Their opening match at Germany this summer is against Ukraine on June 14.En route to their first-ever World Cup finals, Ukraine not merely eye on a mediocre show under the guidance of 1975 European Footballer of the Year Blokhin Oleg. The legendary coach even has an ambition tolead the team to lift the trophy.

    "Strictly speaking, we achieved our objective by qualifying, but now we've obviously raised our expectations," said Bolkhin, "We definitely want to progress beyond the group stage. If we can reach the knockout phase, then the tournament will be wide open."

    To confirm the 54-year-old boss's seemingly unrealistic aim, one should look back to their impressive qualifying road. After been listed with European Champions Greece, 2002 South Korea/JapanWorld Cup bronze medallist Turkey and Denmark in a recognized "group of death", few people thought Ukraine had any chance. But they finally became the first European team to book a place at thefinals after Germany, who qualified automatically as hosts.

    Ukraine's ace player is undoubtedly the "deadly weapon" Andriy Shevchenko, who had 28 goals in 63 international caps. The AC Milan frontman presently is the European Champions League leading scorer with 52 goals, one more than group rivals Spain's hitman Raul and three ahead of former Real Madrid star Alfredo di Stefano. The 2004 European Footballer of the Year has the power tothreat every opponent's whole defence single-handedly, and in Ukraine squad Shevchenko has enough supports from excellent compatriots like Shakhtar Donetsk's forward Andriy Vorobey and Andrey Voronin of Bayer Leverkusen.

    Besides rejuvenated old stagers such as Sergei Rebrov and Andriy Husin under the management of Blokhin, Ukraine also find some hungry young wolves, the finest example of whom is Andrey Rusol.

    As Spain are likely to take reign at the Group, Ukraine may advance to the second round by second place if they make no mistake against Tunisia and Saudi Arabia

    In a group with two giants Spain and Ukraine, Tunisia must do all they can to avoid the fate of early elimination. To win a match at the finals after 28 years seems more realistic than to qualify for the next stage. However, Tunisia would never be the one that are prone to give up.

    Tunisia became the first African country to win a game at finals in Argentina 1978, when they earned a 3-1 win over Mexico in the very first group match. Then a 1-0 defeat by Poland and a draw with defending Champions Germany were not good enough to sendthe Carthage Eagles through to the second round, but the victory against Mexico made them heroes of the Africans.

    Twenty years later Tunisia came to France 1998 and qualified again for South Korea/Japan 2002, but they failed to beat any opponent in both events. But under the lead of former French national coach Roger Lemerre, their second win seems to be just around the corner.

    Tunisia entered the qualifying competition high on confidence having won the CAF African Cup of Nations on home soil in February2004. They enjoyed a fairly comfortable passage to Germany. Defeated just once, 2-1 by Guinea, Lemerre's team recorded six wins and three draws.

    The experience at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 was a booster for Tunisia, where they displayed their class with two valuable defeats against powerhouses Argentina and Germany and a victory over Australia. Although Lemerre's men lost to the Albicelestes 2-1 and to Germany 3-0, no one who saw these three games could have been expecting the Tunisians' play to be of such a high standard.

    The Carthage Eagles' key players include captain Hatem Trabelsi,Ziad Jaziri, Adel Chadli and young striker Haykel Guemamadia. Ajaxdefender Trabelsi has already aroused interests from several European big clubs like Inter Milan and Chelsea.

    Tunisia may consider Saudi Arabia to be the most possible rivals to add to their one win so far, and hope to get some pointsfrom Spain and Ukraine to achieve a surprising qualification.

    Saudi Arabia are the unquestionable minnows in this group and are likely to be the points-producer for the other three teams, despite they advanced to the finals for the fourth time consecutively.

    Saudi Arabia shocked the world as a debutant in USA 1994, when they sank Belgium and Morocco in stunning style to enter the second round where they were downed by semi-finalist Sweden. Afterthat memorable start, however, their subsequent appearances at France 98 and South Korea/Japan 2002 have yielded one draw and five defeats from six matches. And the Saudis suffered the most humiliating fiasco when Germany crushed them 8-0 in their opening group match in 2002.

    However, the arrival of former Argentine international Gabriel Calderon after the poor showing of the Saudis at the AFC Asian Cup2004 recharged the Asia's big name. They went undefeated in 12 qualifiers and beat 2002 World Cup fourth-place winner South Koreatwice to notch a place at Germany convincingly.

    Calderon implants an offensive style into the team, the Argentine recalled 34-year-old Al Jaber to form a two-pronged striking force with Yasser Al Qahtani, a decade younger but already his country's most expensive player following his 10 million dollars transfer to Al Hilal. Jaber lived up to the boss'sexpectation with three goals in the final qualifying round.

    Saudi Arabia are likely to seek points from Tunisia and Ukraine,where their advantage in ball controlling may create some chances.And the head to head clash with Tunisia may decide who would be atthe bottom of the group. Enditem