Baraja the symbol of Spain's new puritanism

Spain has not been immune from the historical perspective that has gripped Europe this weekend. In this case, the landmark in question is 40 years ago, not 60, but such distance only adds to the weight of pressure as another D-Day arrives for the national side.

Spain has not been immune from the historical perspective that has gripped Europe this weekend. In this case, the landmark in question is 40 years ago, not 60, but such distance only adds to the weight of pressure as another D-Day arrives for the national side.

On 21 June 1964, Spain beat the Soviet Union in the European Championship final in Madrid to embrace their only piece of silverware, which has since been buried by decades of underachievement. By a quirk of fate, it is the Russians who provide the opposition next Saturday for their opening Group A game in Faro. There will not be fighting on the beaches in the Algarve, but the 40th anniversary offers a cold dose of reality and indicates how much the world has altered since Spain's triumph. Communism has followed fascism and Franco to the grave, and Russia has changed - you will find more Prada stores in Moscow now than in Madrid.

However, in football terms, Spain are adopting a collective form under manager Inaki Saez that would have made the old general shudder. Not quite communism, but a philosophy of honest toil that could succeed where the stellar predecessors so singularly failed.

Saez has moulded a team in his own image - low-key. The man who spent his playing career at Athletic Bilbao before becoming coach of the Spain Under-21 side, has eschewed glamour for substance. The injury to Michel Salgado trimmed the Real Madrid contingent to four, and Saez's philosophy is underlined by the fact that the replacement, Joan Capdevila, comes from Deportiva La Coruña.

The Spanish public have spent four months witnessing the implosion of Real's "galacticos". With no guarantee of success in the stars, perhaps the stage in Faro is perfectly set for Ruben Baraja.

The man whose goal sealed La Liga glory for Valencia last month, the club's second title in three seasons, is poised to benefit from Saez's minimalism. The energetic midfielder will find a place in the engine room against Russia, while Real's iconic striker Raul and Atletico Madrid's hot young property Fernando Torres sit on the bench.

Saez uses a 4-2-3-1 formation that is set in stone. That means just one striking place is available, and it will go to Monaco's Fernando Morientes, with Bilbao's Joseba Exteberria and Vincente Rodriguez of Valencia on the flanks and Baraja in between, where he can wreak havoc with his well-timed runs.

Now 27, Baraja has taken a decade to gain true recognition. He made his debut as a teenager at Valladolid before moving to Atletico Madrid. Valencia paid a club-record £8m in 2000 for Baraja, and he survived a knee injury to return as top scorer in the club's 2002 title success.

"I have learned to value the good times," admits Baraja, who has neither the looks nor locks that gain many of his less-gifted compatriots more column inches. "We must work as a team, never as individuals," he added. "Nobody can drive the team on their own."

Baraja was part of the squad who lost, painfully, to South Korea in the 2002 World Cup finals, and he shares Saez's belief that it is now better for Spain to shut up about the talent at their disposal. So often have they fallen at the quarter-final hurdlethat one step at a time is now the mantra.