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Spanish 'Pichichi' gunning for goals
by Graham Hunter from Neustift
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Daniel Guiza wants to prove his goalscoring
credentials in Austria and Switzerland (¿Getty Images)
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You would not normally expect a reputation for falling
asleep during Luis Aragones's tactical briefings, or for enjoying a robust
nightlife, to be the qualities of a man emerging as Spain's secret weapon
at UEFA EURO 2008T.
Spanish wildcard
Welcome to the world of Daniel Guiza - top scorer or Pichichi in Spain
in the season just ended and the man who will step into the breach should
either Fernando Torres or David Villa fail to produce the goods in this
tournament. That is so long as the 27-year-old RCD Mallorca striker stays
awake in the team meetings about Group D rivals Russia, Sweden and title-holders
Greece.
Sound sleeper
The incident in question came when Aragones was in charge at Mallorca.
Guiza admits he simply nodded off while sitting at the back of the briefing
room. His version is that: "It's happened twice, but with Aragones
it was when I was exhausted. The screen of the television was really small,
I could barely see anything and I dropped off. Not once, but twice."
Model pro
His 27 goals for Mallorca this term indicate that Guiza has not only become
extremely successful, but also a model professional. However, he concedes
there was a time when his fondness for socialising threatened his chances
of making it at the highest level, saying: "The night can lead everyone
astray once in a while and, although it did to me when I was younger,
that's all long behind me now."
Ronaldo comparison
While Guiza is making his finals debut for Spain, with only four caps
and no goals behind him, the Andalusian is unfazed by the challenge or
by rubbing shoulders with the continent's elite. In his first spell with
Mallorca, he was edged out by Samuel Eto'o and Albert Luque, both established
internationals, but Guiza is a fighter. He has been relegated, he has
been allowed to leave FC Barcelona B - yet here he is with an opportunity
to provide the 'impact' goals that could take his country to glory. Just
don't ask him if he is worried about competing for the scoring award with
a certain Portugal forward.
Fears banished
"I'm not going to pit myself against any of the other strikers, least
of all Cristiano Ronaldo, because I'm here to do my own job and to help
Spain," said Guiza, who rejoined Mallorca from Getafe CF last summer.
"I've set myself the target of getting my first minutes of action
against Russia on Tuesday and, if possible, using them to score my first
Spain goal. I know some people are already saying we are doomed to fail
in the quarter-finals again, but I don't believe in curses hanging over
us. We've got the best team and let's prove that by winning. What they
say about us doesn't matter one iota to me - Spain have no fear and we
are going to achieve something big here in Austria."
Euro2008.com,
6 June 2008
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