Morientes ready to resume lethal partnership
Fernando Morientes can look forward to resuming his once-lethal partnership with Raul at Euro 2004 after barging his way back into the Spanish side.
Fernando Morientes can look forward to resuming his once-lethal partnership with Raul at Euro 2004 after barging his way back into the Spanish side.
Rejected by Real Madrid before the start of the season and out of the national side, Morientes top-scored in the Champions League with nine goals for Monaco and he will be back leading the line when Spain play Russia in Group A on Saturday.
"It's been a sweet year for me, personally and professionally," Morientes said after training on Thursday.
"It went very well in Europe for me with Monaco and now it's time for me to repay the faith shown in me by the coach."
Morientes was sidelined at Real Madrid following the arrival of Ronaldo in 2002 and eventually shipped out to Monaco before the start of last season.
Spanish coaches have been notoriously reluctant to call up players with foreign clubs but the form shown by Morientes was irresistible.
His outstanding performances in the Champions League, including crucial goals against Real Madrid and Chelsea, took the French side through to the final, when they were beaten 3-0 by Porto.
Spain coach Inaki Saez, who had complained about a lack of firepower going into the tournament and must have been concerned by Raul's recent dip in form, suddenly realised that Morientes provided a ready-made solution.
"We're determined to work hard to go a long way and do something historic for Spain," Morientes said.
Morientes has a remarkable strike rate in internationals and his goal in the recent warm-up match against Andorra took his tally to 22 in 33 games since his debut in 1998.
Strangely, Jose Antonio Camacho opted to leave him out of his Euro 2000 squad, although he returned for the World Cup two years later, and this will be his first appearance at the European Championship.
"I said at the start of the season that my goal as a professional was to be here," he said. "It went well for me this year but you don't know if a scoring run is going to continue when the tournament starts or just finish."