Spain revived its European Championship qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win against Denmark that failed to erase the doubts raised by a poor start in Group F.
"Mission accomplished," sports daily Marca said on Sunday, a day after Spain hung on for its victory. "Spain suffers [its way] to victory," daily newspaper El Pais said.
After consecutive defeats to Sweden and Northern Ireland, Spain was fifth with three points from three games. It managed to take advantage of a 10-man Denmark side after defender Niclas Jensen was sent off in the 20th minute. A pair of first-half goals from Fernando Morientes and David Villa moved Spain up to fourth with six points.
Sweden leads Group F with 12 points, second-place Northern Ireland has 10 and Denmark is third with seven.
Despite holding a two-goal lead, Spain endured a nervous second half -- after defender Michael Gravgaard headed in for Denmark in the 49th -- and held on for the victory at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
"I do not understand why we became nervous when we were two goals ahead," Spain coach Luis Aragones said. "We were lucky, because in football you cannot play well when you are so nervous. The two goals were good, but they were practically our only clear chances."
Aragones' team was back in training on Sunday, and the coach admitted his side would have to play better to reach the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.
Spain came into the match in a slump, registering only four victories in its last eight games.
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