Espanyol look forward to first Montjuic full house

Nov 14th, 99

BARCELONA, (Reuters) - Espanyol are expecting their first full house at the Montjuic Olympic stadium when they kick off their centenary celebrations with a game against Argentina on Sunday.

Espanyol, who moved into the rebuilt stadium after the 1992 Olympics, have never before managed to fill its 53,000 capacity. But the Barcelona-based club are looking forward to a noisy celebration of their first 100 years as Argentina warm up for their friendly against Spain on Wednesday.

Sunday's match could prove a case of divided loyalties for the four Argentine players in the Espanyol side and the club's coach Miguel Angel Brindisi, himself born in Buenos Aires.

Martin Posse, Carlos Casartelli, Mauro Navas and Pablo Rotchen will all line up against their own national team, a fact that the coach admits could turn the game into something of an exhibition match.

"It's going to be strange," said Brindisi on Saturday. "But the most important thing is that the game is a fiesta. We don't have to take the field thinking of ourselves as great rivals."