MADRID, Sept 6 - Spain's world championship-winning basketball team were awarded the country's top international sporting honour, the 2006 Principe de Asturias prize, on Wednesday.

Spain won their first world championship gold medal with an emphatic 70-47 victory over European champions Greece in the final in Japan on Sunday.

Spain also beat world champions Serbia & Monetenegro and Olympic gold medallists Argentina on the way to the final, but suffered a setback when talismanic forward Pau Gasol limped out with a broken bone in his foot in the semi-final.

But with Memphis Grizzlies NBA All-Star Gasol watching from the sidelines, his team mates produced a superlative performance to power their way to victory over Greece.

Gasol was later given the championship's MVP award for his outstanding performances in earlier rounds.

The success contrasted with the disappointing performance of the country's football team in this year's World Cup in Germany where they exited the tournament after losing to France in the last 16.

Amongst the other candidates for this year's Principe de Asturias prize were tennis player Andre Agassi, former Real Madrid footballer Zinedine Zidane and women's pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva.

Previous winners include Spain's Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso, seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, tennis great Martina Navratilova, Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros and athletes Carl Lewis and Sebastian Coe.