Spain pay the price for letting Serbia off the hook

Spain were once again left bemoaning their ill fortune in a World Cup qualifier after drawing 1-1 at home to group leaders Serbia & Montenegro in a match they should have won comfortably.

"Football is an ungrateful business sometimes because we deserved much more than the draw," Spain captain Raul said. 

"We played much better than Serbia, especially in the first half and ended up with a draw which was scant reward for our efforts."

The result means that Serbia & Montenegro stay two points clear of Spain at the top of Group Seven and remain on course to claim an automatic place in next year's World Cup.

Spain, who have won three and drawn five of their eight group matches, now look as though they will have to settle for a place in the playoffs. 

But even that is not guaranteed as third-placed Bosnia are now just a point behind them in the standings after their 1-0 win in Lithuania.

Luis Aragones' side made a breathless start at the Atletico Madrid stadium and took a deserved lead when tireless captain Raul became the first player to score against the Serbians in a qualifier after he flicked in a near-post header in the 19th minute. 

But in an all-too familiar sequence of events Spain failed to press home their advantage and were denied a more comfortable lead by a combination of poor finishing, ill fortune and some impressive defending by their opponents.

Although they had been on the ropes for much of the match, the introduction of striker Nikola Zigic helped turn the qualifier in Serbia & Montenegro's favour. 

The giant Red Star Belgrade target man created panic in the Spain defence and prompted an error from keeper Iker Casillas that led to the equaliser midway through the second half.

Casillas failed to gather a cross on the edge of the area under pressure from the big striker, midfielder Dejan Stankovic hit a shot towards the goal and Mateja Kezman diverted the ball past two defenders into the net. 

"I should have punched the ball clear, that would have got me out of trouble," said a disappointed Casillas. "We then had the bad luck that Kezman got his foot to the ball and sent it over the heads of the defence."

Kezman, who plays his club football for Atletico Madrid, said he was delighted at scoring his first goal at the Vicente Calderon.

"I hope I will get many more goals for the national and also start scoring for Atletico Madrid," said the former Chelsea player.

"Spain were much better than us in the first half, but we stuck at it and played with lots of character. We achieved our objective with this result."