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PUYOL: SPAIN ARE 'NOT INVINCIBLE'
Puyol - not getting carried away.
Spain defender Carles Puyol is refusing to get carried away with his side's hugely impressive run of form, pointing out the European champions are "not invincible".
Spain have swept all before them in recent months and you have to go back to 2006 to find the last time they tasted defeat when Romania claimed a 1-0 friendly win in Cadiz.
Aside from that 26-match unbeaten run, the Euro 2008 winners have also now gone 710 minutes without conceding a goal, breaking the national record set by former stoppers Andoni Zubizarreta and Paco Buyo during Saturday's 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Estonia.
Iker Casillas, who now owns that new mark in tandem with Jose Reina, also smashed his own personal record of not conceding an international goal during the Estonia match, extending it from 610 minutes to 643 - and counting.
It is no wonder therefore that confidence is soaring in the Spain camp ahead of Wednesday's qualifier against Belgium in Brussels, but Puyol has allayed any fears that complacency might be creeping in.
"Spain are enjoying a fantastic moment. After winning against Italy and getting beyond the quarter-finals of the European Championship everything changed," said the Barcelona defender.
"We gained confidence which we still have now, but we are not invincible.
"Some day a defeat will come, but we are going to try to make that day as far away as possible.
"We are a well-balanced team, but still we have things to learn, (such as) winning without playing well.
"Spain need the ball, to dominate and to play well to get ahead in games. But there will come a time when we will have to win without all this, like Italy can for example," added Puyol, who netted Spain's third goal against Estonia with a close-range header in the second half.
"I was pleased with the goal, but it isn't my job. What really pleased me is to win games," he said in AS.
Spain, who have won their last 16 consecutive matches, will look to build on their World Cup qualifying wins over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia and Estonia when they take on Belgium on Wednesday.
Those three triumphs have left Vicente del Bosque's side at the top of Group Five, two points ahead of both Belgium and Turkey.
Looking ahead to the Belgium clash, Puyol said: "Next to Turkey it is one of the most difficult games. But Spain have earned the right to go into the game with confidence."