Final call

Elimination from the Euro 2004 finals is an unpalatable possibility for Spain and their galaxy of stars tonight in Oslo. Mark Gallagher reports...

AT LEAST, they won. Had Henning Berg not turned the ball into his own net with five minutes left in Valencia on Saturday, the country would be in a much more fretful mood tonight. Not that the spectre of failure isn't haunting this evening's play-off in Norway. Taking only the slenderest of advantages from the Mestalla Stadium, not to mention conceding an away goal, has left Spain a very worried nation.

Norway simply need to win 1-0 at home to leave a country red-faced by a tedious bunch of infinitely less flamboyant Nordic sorts. One goal and Spain will fail to reach their first international finals since 1978. Worse, they will miss a major finals on their doorstep. Long used to dishing out opprobrium to their Iberian neighbours, it hardly seems possible that Spain might skip next summer altogether. They simply have to be in the shake-up in Portugal.