Cautious Del Bosque warns against Zidane euphoria

Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque has said that the signing of World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane will not automatically guarantee success for the Spanish champions.

"If anyone thinks that with Zidane we are going to sweep aside all our opponents or win every game 7-0 they are wrong," Del Bosque was quoted as saying in sports daily Marca on Wednesday.

World record signing Zidane will team up with European Player of the Year Luis Figo, the all-time Champions League top-scorer Raul and Brazilian international defender Roberto Carlos to form a formidable team at the Bernabeu.

But Del Bosque believes competition from other sides will be tougher than ever.

"There is no doubt that we are incorporating a player that would be welcome in any team in the world, but other teams also have some very good players that are tactically astute and are prepared to fight it out."

"The presence of good players, which we had even before the arrival of Zidane, does not necessarily mean you have a team. A team is built on the basis of an effort from all the players and it isn't good enough to just be brilliant in attack."

Del Bosque, who last season led Real to their first league title in four years, said that he saw his primary task as trying to mould an effective outfit capable of achieving success at home and in Europe.

"We have got some great players, but now we have to make a great team. We have to look for a well-balanced line up that is capable of both playing well and of being competitive in all matches," he said.

Barcelona vice-president Angel Fernandez also sounded a warning about Real's transfer policy saying that the Frenchman would not have fitted into the Catalan club's plans for the future.

"If we had wanted to we could have signed Zidane, but we chose to spend the money on buying several young players who have great potential for the future," he said.

"We already have players of the same class and experience (as Zidane) and we believe it is better to balance the team with a mixture of youth and experience."

Fernandez also presented 19-year-old Argentine striker Javier Saviola as a new Barcelona player.

He also confirmed that the club would be paying over $30 million for the highly-rated teenage star and not the $22 million that was first reported.