Mallorca strong favourites in Spanish King's Cup final

Real Mallorca find themselves in the unaccustomed position of being clear favourites as they prepare for Saturday's King's Cup final against Recreativo Huelva in Elche.

Mallorca beat Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and Deportivo Coruna in the semis and victory over a Recreativo Huelva side relegated from the top flight earlier this month should be well within their reach.

Saturday's game will be a chance for the Balearic islanders to make it third time lucky, after Cup final defeats by Atletico Madrid in 1991 and Barcelona in 1998.

The players are wary of sounding over-confident, though, after the club's previous disappointments in King's Cup finals, as well as in the European Cup Winners' Cup final against Lazio in 1999.

"I don't believe there are favourites going into any final," said Mallorca centre-back Miguel Angel Nadal, who played for Barcelona against Mallorca in the 1998 final.

"It's a one-off, being played at a neutral ground and it will be an open game. Some people see Recreativo as an accessible rival but the two teams have the same chances."

Mallorca should have Samuel Eto'o leading their attack after he was granted permission to leave Cameroon's Confederations Cup squad to play for his club.

Eto'o missed the tragic semi-final between Cameroon and Colombia on Thursday, when the African champions' midfielder Marc Vivien-Foe collapsed on the pitch and died.

Recreativo finished third from bottom in the Spanish first division and will make an immediate return to division two.

They will pin their hopes of an upset on Raul Molina, the skilful striker who scored 10 league goals.

Recreativo are Spain's oldest club, formed in 1889, but Saturday's game will be their first appearance in a major final.

Mallorca's only major trophy came in 1998 when they beat double-winners Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.