Updated: Sunday June 02, 2002 12:21 PM ET	Sun June 2 Games Nigeria 0 Argentina 1 - FINAL Slovenia 1 Spain 3 - FINAL South Africa 2 Paraguay 2 - FINAL Sweden 1 England 1 - FINAL
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Spain 3, Slovenia 1

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GWANGJU, South Korea (Ticker) -- Spain finally won the opening match of a World Cup tournament.

Raul netted the opener and Fernando Hierro converted a disputed penalty as Spain recorded a 3-1 win over World Cup debutant Slovenia.

Perennial World Cup underachievers, the Spaniards prevailed in their opening match for the first time since 1950, when they finished in fourth place to post their all-time best finish. Since then, Spain has reached a pair of quarterfinals but failed to advance from the opening round four times.

"It's very important to win the first game in the greatest showcase of them all," Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho said. "We got to win the game, we fought hard for this win."

Raul collected his 26th international goal and moved into a tie for second place on Spain's all-time list with another Real Madrid player, the retired Emilio Butragueno.

"The credit goes to all the players. I hope our spirit today will continue throughout the rest of the matches," Raul said. "But we still have two more games to go. As we saw, today's match was not an easy one."

Another Real striker was involved in the controversial penalty decision with three minutes left and Spain leading by a goal. Substitute Fernando Morientes collided with Slovenia's Sasa Gasjer near the edge of the area and referee Mohamed Guezzaz of Morrocco awarded a surprising penalty.

Hierro, the Spanish captain, slotted home his national-team record 28th goal.

"I'm satisfied with my players, especially in the first half," Slovenia coach Srecko Katanec said. "We were aggressive and our defense was good. I was disappointed to give up a goal just before halftime. It was almost Spain's only chance of the first half."

Slovenia recorded shutouts in its final four friendlies leading up to the World Cup.

Juan Carlos Valeron tallied Spain's second in the 74th minute. But Sebastjan Cimirotic halved Slovenia's deficit with eight minutes left, setting up a dramatic finish. However, it was tainted by the disputed penalty decision, which appeared to surprise Spanish and Slovenian players alike.

With a population on just 1.9 million, Slovenia became the smallest nation to compete in a World Cup.