Spain wary of Norwegian nous

By Graham Hunter in Valencia

Coach Iñaki Sáez and his senior players believe Spain must guard against complacency in the first leg of their UEFA EURO 2004™ play-off against Norway.

Euphoric atmosphere
The mood in the Spanish camp has been close to euphoric all week as Sáez prepares his team for the match at Valencia CF's Mestalla stadium – where they have lost only four times in 28 internationals – with Spain keen to establish a commanding lead ahead of the return leg in Oslo on 19 November.

Fitness concerns
Sáez is able to welcome back Michel Salgado after the right-back missed Real Madrid CF's defeat by Sevilla FC last weekend, while both Fernando Torres and José Reyes Calderón are in fine form. By contrast, Norway coach Nils Johan Semb is without Ole Gunnar Solskjær through injury, with fellow forward John Carew left out for disciplinary reasons. Left-back André Bergdølmo will also be absent having not trained this week.

Sell-out crowd
The differing fortunes of the two teams, coupled with the extraordinary welcome that is sure to greet the Spanish squad in front of a capacity crowd at the Mestalla, has led to speculation in some quarters about how many goals the home side will score.

'You have to suffer'
However, Sáez, perhaps mindful of the home defeat by Greece and goalless draw in Northern Ireland that condemned his team to second place in Group 6, warned against such presumptive thinking, believing that overconfidence might prove costly again. "I am calm, but a bit preoccupied," the coach said. "This will be 180 minutes against a team that knows how to make things uncomfortable - and sometimes you just don't get the goals against a team like Norway. Sometimes you have to suffer a bit for what you want in life."

'Courage and pride'
Captain Raúl González agreed, saying: "I would settle for 1-0 or 2-0, so long as we win and keep a clean sheet. Norway make it uncomfortable to play football and they get lots of men behind the ball before hitting you on the break. I have no intention of not being in Portugal next summer, so we need caution, patience, courage and pride in this first game."

Flo thoughts
Tore André Flo is likely to play alone in attack for the visitors, but the striker is optimistic that Norway's physical approach, coupled with the freezing conditions that await in the return, may just give the Scandinavian side a valuable edge.

'Physically stronger'
"I haven't thought much about Spain's defenders because I'm more preoccupied with Raúl - we will have to be extremely vigilant with him," said the AC Siena player. "Spain are more comfortable than us with the ball at their feet but we are physically stronger. If we can keep this game tight, and perhaps take the chances that come our way, I still think that the cold in Norway could become an advantage for us in the second leg."

'First leg is the key'
Defender Henning Berg echoed the need to keep the tie alive after the away leg, saying: "This first leg is the key match. A draw or a minimal defeat would be a tremendous result for us. But if Spain beat us 2-0 or 3-0, I think it will be practically impossible to fight back."