The Spanish men's water polo team will be happy with a podium finish at the Beijing Games, a team official said Thursday.
"Gold? No, no, no...We will play for a medal," Pere Robert, team leader of the Spanish squad, told Xinhua at the Yingdong Natatorium of National Olympic Sports Center.
The Spanish players have had two training sessions since they arrived in Beijing Wednesday. On Friday afternoon, they will head to Tokyo and stay there till August 7.
"We will train in Tokyo with Japan's national team," Robert said, adding that as Tokyo only has one hour time difference from Beijing, players will not have jet lag problem when they return to Beijing.
Having snatched five medals including two golds at the Fina Men's World Water Polo Championships, Spain is seen as one of the strongest teams in men's water polo.
"The boys started playing together in 2005. It's a young team, but very competitive," he said. The team won bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
At the Beijing Olympics, Spain will confront Canada first on August 10.
(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)