Other Football

Spain's Xabi Alonso says he will remember his two goals in Wednesday's win over Denmark for the rest of his life.

The Liverpool midfielder struck twice in the second half of the 3-0 win in Copenhagen after appearing as a half-time substitute, netting in the 50th minute and then again in injury-time.

For someone who had only previously scored one goal in 47 appearances for his country, Alonso was understandably delighted with his contribution to what was a debut victory for new Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.

"It was a special game, with a new coach, for which it was important to win and to have good feelings. It's clear that I will never forget these two goals with the national team," said Alonso.

Alonso was not the only proud Spaniard on Wednesday night, with young Sevilla winger Diego Capel and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Andoni Iraola both making their first appearances for their country as second-half replacements.

The 20-year-old Capel was involved in two of Spain's goals, and he said: "I felt very good and as such things have gone a lot easier. I will try to continue working to count on the confidence of the coach."

Iraola added: "It's an unforgettable day."

The victory saw the European champions extend their unbeaten run to 23 matches and sets them up nicely for the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign, which begins next month with a home double-header against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Armenia.

Spain host Bosnia-Herzegovina in Murcia on September 6 before meeting Armenia in Albacete four days later.

Looking ahead to those matches, Del Bosque did not rule out the possibility of new faces forcing their way into his plans.

"Nothing's closed. Now the league is about to start and we are going to monitor that. Also the Under-21s have beaten Russia and obtained a great win," said Del Bosque, who named four new faces in his first squad selection, with Bojan Krkic and Fernando Amorebieta joining Capel and Iraola in the list.

"The base of the squad is that which came to Denmark, but we'll see what happens after the first round of league matches," the former Real Madrid coach added.

"Now we have the World Cup qualifiers and we cannot commit any errors. We are favourites, but we cannot slip up and even less so at home."