Raul likely to be on bench against Ukraine

KAMEN, Germany, June 12 (Reuters) Spain captain Raul appears certain to start on the bench in their opening World Cup Group H match against Ukraine on Wednesday.

The striker, Spain's all-time leading scorer, took part in a light-hearted training session with the rest of the squad today while coach Luis Aragones supervised a tactical practice for the side that looks likely to start in Leipzig.

The 28-year-old Raul has struggled to regain his form after missing three months of the season with a serious knee injury and only scored five goals in the league for Real Madrid.

He struck in the recent friendly against Egypt but it does not seem to have been enough to convince Aragones that he merits a place in the starting lineup for the opening game.

Defender Michel Salgado also found himself among the substitutes on Monday, as did midfielders David Albelda and Cesc Fabregas.

Argentine-born Mariano Pernia, who made a goalscoring debut in last week's friendly against Croatia after being called up to replace the injured Asier del Horno, was in the likely starting team.

As expected, Aragones opted for a three-man midfield consisting of Marcos Senna, Xabi Alonso and Xavi while David Villa, Fernando Torres and Luis Garcia started up front.

Today's session was closed to the public for the first time since the team arrived in Kamen, the first team working on the transition from defence to attack and set pieces while the rest of the squad trained separately.

The other teams in the group are Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

Reuters PDS GC2054