Spain to face S Arabia in World Cup warm-up

The Spanish national team is to prepare for the first game of their World Cup qualifying campaign when they entertain Saudi Arabia in the city of Pontevedra on Friday night. Spain coach will want his men to give a better performance than that in their last match when they were disappointed with a 2-1 victory over Costa Rica in August. While that result can be put down to the lack of fitness following Spain’s retention of the European Championship in June, the players have now had three matches of their domestic season and should be approaching their best form. Xavi Hernandez returned to the side and he and Iker Casillas can expect a good reception after being named as the joint winners of the Prince of Asturias Award on Wednesday. From gulftoday