select a team ---------- Europe: Belgium Croatia Denmark England France Germany Ireland Italy Poland Portugal Russia Slovenia Spain Sweden Turkey ---------- South America: Argentina Brazil Ecuador Paraguay Uruguay ---------- Africa: Cameroon Nigeria Senegal South Africa Tunisia ---------- Asia: China Japan Saudi Arabia South Korea ---------- CONCACAF: Costa Rica Mexico United States     Main page    Schedule    Stadiums

Spain plays down Raul row

ULSAN, South Korea, May 22 (Reuters) -- Spain's World Cup preparations in South Korea suffered their first minor hiccup on Wednesday when the squad's fitness trainer Carlos Lorenzana was forced to play down a row with star player Raul.

According to reports in Spanish newspapers, Lorenzana and Raul argued on the training pitch in Jerez the day before the squad flew out to their training camp in Ulsan.

Lorenzana was said to be upset by Raul's attitude towards him when the Real Madrid players, who had arrived at Jerez late

following their Champions League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen last Wednesday, returned to training.

The fitness coach, quizzed by the media on Wednesday, sought to play down the story but he refused to comment on further reports that he had considered quitting his post.

"As far as I'm concerned the matter's over," Lorenzana said. "It was just one of those things that happen in this job. We've all showered and cooled down now.

"I did speak to (coach) Jose Antonio Camacho but it was a private conversation and I'm not going to say what it was about."

Lorenzana added that he had no intention of changing his style on the training pitch. "My job is to look after the motivation and preparation of the players," he said. "If I don't think a player is working hard enough I'll say so."

Spain, who arrived in Ulsan on Tuesday, play their opening group B game against Slovenia on June 2, before going on to face Paraguay and South Africa.

Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.