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World Cup Group H favourites Spain look set to stick with their blueprint for the anticipated starting line-up against debutants Ukraine after completing a final training session before the two teams meet tonight .Spain's coach Luis Aragones made no changes to the 4-3-3 formation which he has favoured for the past few days in training ahead of the perennial underachievers' bid to start their 12th campaign on a high. Spain has won only two of its past 10 opening round matches at the competition, however Aragones has plumped for form rather than reputation in a bid to end that sorry record. Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres, Valencia's David Villa and Luis Garcia of Liverpool are set to spearhead their attack ahead of a three-man midfield of Xavi (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso and Villarreal's Marcos Senna. Torres' goal scoring record is solid if a little inconsistent, while Villa has come on leaps and bounds the past two seasons and recently finished behind Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o in the Primera Liga scoring charts. Garcia has also proven his goal scoring abilities, the Liverpool winger hitting a hat-trick past Slovakia in the 5-1 qualifying play-off win when Aragones lined up a 4-3-3 for the first time. It all means that Spain icon Raul, who returned from injury late in the season, is likely to sit on the bench having spent most of this week training with the remainder of the squad. For Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin meanwhile there is still a hope that his star striker Andriy Shevchenko could play in the former Soviet country's first World Cup finals match. Blokhin said he would only make a last-minute decision over whether or not his proven match-winner would play, although the signs point towards 'Sheva' perhaps starting on the bench. Shevchenko, who recently moved to English champions Chelsea from AC Milan, played 30 minutes in last week's friendly win over Luxembourg. But since then, and despite taking part in Ukraine's training sessions for what will be its first World Cup appearance, the influential striker has admitted he is not fully fit following a recent knee injury. Shevchenko trained with the squad on Tuesday and although fit, Blokhin is understandably reluctant to take risks which might end his campaign early. Shevchenko said the decision was down to Blokhin. "It's up to the coach to decide tomorrow whether I will play or not," he said, who if fully fit could turn out to be one of the players of the tournament. Blokhin, voted Europe's best player in 1975 during his hugely successful spell with Dynamo Kiev, can still rely on a solid team of players who he claims can imitate reigning European Champions Greece and punch above their weight. "We don't have the technical skills of a Spain or a Brazil, but our strength lies in our collective game," Blokhin said. "There are lots of different styles in football and I believe we can go far. "Who would have thought that Greece would go all the way and win the European Championships in 2004?" For Spain, it will be crucial to get things right. A win in its opening match will set it up nicely for the remaining group games against Tunisia and Saudi Arabia where they can perhaps experiment and rest key players. After that, the real pressure will be on. Despite having a technically-gifted team and one of the world's most astute domestic leagues Spain have not gone past the quarter-final stages of the World Cup since 1950 when they finished fourth.
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