Preview Group D Spain v RussiaIT WOULD be easy to imagine the Spanish might feel their celebrated "underachievement" is slightly overplayed abroad, but when a nation's footballers head off to a major tournament with the chorus of a song called We'll make it past the quarters, it seems abundantly clear this is not a team whose track record has inspired over-confidence back at home.

The Spaniards arrive as second favourites for the title but having repeatedly boosted the profits of the bookmakers with their premature exits in the past, nobody is really sure what to expect of Luis Aragones or his players.

Few doubt the controversial veteran coach has enough talent available to mount a very serious challenge for the title, but the side's lamentable history in championship finals since winning this competition in 1964 tends to divide neutrals, with some insisting the poor run has to end sometime and others seeing no particular reasons why it should.

Explanations for the various failures differ but a theory that repeatedly raises its head is the underlying rivalry of the Real Madrid and Barcelona players, as well as the inability of those who play for Catalan sides to fully commit when selected for Spain.

Certainly a player like Carles Puyol might, on the face of it, be suspected of having less of an emotional attachment to the team's cause than, say, a Real star like Sergio Ramos but on this occasion Villareal and Valencia will probably be as well represented in this evening's starting line-up.

Puyol's recent form, rather than his long-term devotion to the flag, has caused more widespread concern during the build-up to the competition.

Even mention of their single international triumph almost half a century ago needs some qualification for there was no tournament as such.

The Spanish beat Romania, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on the way to the semis which, along with the final, they hosted. Wins over Hungary and the USSR on home turf were therefore enough to earn the country its only European crown.

Their last attempt to regain the title came apart in the group stage where, after beating this evening's opponents in their opening game, they drew with Greece and lost to hosts Portugal.

In Germany, they fared better, storming through a weak group before coming up against a French side inspired by a Zinedine Zidane clearly determined to earn the opportunity to nut somebody on the game's biggest stage prior to retirement.

Two years on, a still young squad is that little bit more mature, with players like Fernando Torres, David Silva and Cesc Fabregas all having grown significantly in status with their clubs over the past couple of seasons.

Aragones' greatest problem, indeed, may be to accommodate so many gifted players, particularly in midfield and attack, and his attempts to date have resulted in several tactical shifts - none of which has resulted in a line-up that fully plays to the team's range of strengths.

Coming into these championships, the 69-year-old looked set to play 4-1-4-1, with Torres handed the lone striker's role but the team lacks natural wingers so Andres Iniesta and Silva both tend to be shunted slightly out of position.

Another problem with the approach is Liverpool striker Torres has tended to do better at international level when he has support up front, either as part of a three-man attack in a 4-3-3 or with a partner in some variation on 4-4-2.

Aragones has acknowledged that against a highly organised Russian side, the latter is his preference for this evening so David Villa, who missed the last of the team's warm-up games with a thigh strain, will start, assuming he is fit.

The signs at their Neustift training camp in recent days have been that Marcos Senna rather than Xabi Alonso will be handed responsibility for anchoring the midfield; evidence, Aragones fans might argue, that the coach is not the racist he was portrayed as after being filmed a couple of seasons back attempting to inspire Jose Antonio Reyes to greater things against his then Arsenal team-mate Thierry Henry with the words: "Tell that black s**t that you're better than him."

Both Aragones and Reyes denied the charge of racism against the coach, but not everyone was convinced and having been on the brink of leaving the post more than once since, there will be relief in some quarters when Vincente del Bosque succeeds the former Athletico striker after this tournament.

By then, the coach hopes he and his players will have written themselves into the history books by ending the nation's 44-year drought but he accepts that a loss tonight will seriously dent their hopes.

"The first game is so important," he says, "that you can't, or shouldn't, lose it."

His side, Aragones insists, are not favourites but Fabregas reckons the players are "hungry and ready" and while they mightn't be singing about it, their ambitions must surely extend beyond a place in the last four of the tournament.

Preview Group D Greece v Sweden

SWEDEN STRIKER Zlatan Ibrahimovic is desperate to play against European Championship holders Greece despite a lack of match-fitness following a knee injury.

Ibrahimovic only returned at the end of Inter Milan's season but is set to start in Salzburg, even if he cannot last the full 90 minutes of the Group D meeting.

The forward said: " I don't know if I can play for 90 minutes, but I feel ready. We'll see how long I last."

Greece have been given little chance as they defend the title they unexpectedly won

four years ago. Midfielder Giorgos Karagounis is fit following a knee injury. THE SPANISH expect David Villa to be fit after last week's thigh strain, leaving coach Luis Aragones with a full squad to choose from after which it will be a case of how the veteran coach opts to deploy his players. The Valencia striker is expected to partner Fernando Torres in attack with Marcos Senna set to start in midfield.

With the Russian squad drawn from the big Moscow clubs as well as the Uefa Cup champions, Zenit St Petersburg, there are no players of proven ability at the very top level for Guus Hiddink to build his side around, but the Dutch coach still has a decent group even if the loss to injury of Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak is a significant blow.

The 61-year-old Hiddink has made major impacts on tournaments with lesser squads but a good start would be a major help to the Russian cause. If they are to achieve that the ability of Sergei Semak and Andrei Arshavin to hold their own in midfield will be crucial.

The former, a defensive player, will captain the side, while the latter will carry the burden of driving the side forward and creating opportunities for the strikers.

There will also be concern about the ability of a back four that has been hit by a couple of injury problems to cope with the Spanish attack but Hiddink remains optimistic that his side can come away from the game with something.