Ah, the group of death. That's what they called it when the draw was made all right, although it might more appropriately have been referred to as the group of deadbeats, with Bulgaria having a decent 20-minute spell in their opening game and thereafter appearing to yearn for a quick return to Sofia, while the Spanish must have dreaded landing back in Madrid after their showing.

Javier Clemente's side did, to their credit at least, contribute a good deal to one of the games of the first round, the 3-2 defeat by Nigeria in Nantes and they did hammer Bulgaria 6-1 in their last outing. In between, however, they allowed the little fancied Paraguayans to take control of their own fate by failing to beat them.

Javier Clemente reaped the inevitable consequences in the third round of matches - the Nigerians rested five first teamers and could really only have been more blatant about their disregard for the result against Paraguay by wearing slippers or chewing on fat cigars as they swaggered about the Municipal Stadium in Toulouse.

Nigeria's Jay Jay Okocha, one of the tournament's stars.