Spain lucky to beat Ireland - Hiddink

South Korea coach Guus Hiddink has aimed a dig at Spain ahead of their World Cup quarter-final showdown, claiming they were lucky to beat Ireland.

Spain squeezed through to the last eight after winning a penalty shoot-out against the Irish and Hiddink, who attended the second-round game in Suwon, felt Mick McCarthy’s side deserved to win.

Hiddink thought Spain could easily have lost the game in extra-time when they had been reduced to 10 men because of David Albelda’s injury.

‘‘I know the Spanish team very well and they had to play the last part of the game with one man less,’’ he said.

‘‘It was a tough game for them and in the end I thought they were maybe a little bit lucky in winning on penalties.

‘‘Even before that I thought they were a little bit lucky and Ireland might have won in extra-time.’’

Hiddink had taken in the game on Sunday to assess Korea’s potential quarter-final opponents and there is little he does not know about Spain.

The Dutchman spent four years working in Spain coaching first Valencia, Real Madrid and then Real Betis.

He knows the likes of Raul, Fernando Morientes and Fernando Hierro well from his time at Madrid, which came to an abrupt end after just 11 months when he was controversially sacked in May 1999.

Hiddink is looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past and he said: ‘‘I will enjoy the match very much because Spain is in my heart and I’m looking forward to playing against the players I had in my team at Madrid.’’

Korea’s chances of recording yet another historic win over Spain in Gwangju on Saturday, following their epic golden-goal triumph over Italy on Tuesday, will rise if Raul misses out through injury.

The Spanish striker, who has scored three goals during the tournament, has sat out the three training sessions since the win over Ireland with a groin problem.

He was able to do some gym work yesterday, but the Spanish medical team are unsure if he will be fit.

Definitely out is Albelda and the Valencia midfielder is suffering from an inflamed testicle.

Hiddink, though, has injury worries of his own and defender Kim Tae-young broke his nose against Italy, while midfielder Kim Nam-il twisted his ankle.