What happened the last time Spain took on Norway

The ticket to contest the big match of 2004 cost more than expected. In a group with Greece, Ukraine, Northern Ireland and Armenia, nobody would have thought that Spain wouldn't finish top. But it happened. The Spanish came second, and ended up in the playoffs where they met Norway.

The first-leg clash took place in Mestalla (Valencia), the same as this time, on November 14th 2003. The fear ahead of the match was tangible. And it worsened at the moment when Iversen gave the Norwegians the advantage after a quarter of the match.

Iversen, the same guy who had sealed the defeat in the previous Euros before the famous decision on Molina's departure. There were reasons to be scared.

Luckily, Raul scored soon afterwards, although the away goal was already a psychological advantage for the Norwegians. Five minutes before the end, Ruben Baraja and defender Henning Berg made it 2-1.

They allowed the Norwegians to go into the second-leg in Oslo ahead, where the home advantage was cancelled out by three Spanish goals from Raul Gonzalez, Vicente and Etxeberria.

That night, the line-up chosen by the team that Iñaki Sáez then coached was not exactly awful, but that Spanish were nothing particularly special either.

Casillas; Míchel Slagado, Marchena, Helguera, Puyol; Etxeberria, Albelda, Baraja, Reyes; Raúl and Fernando Torres made up that team. While Joaquín, Vicente and Valerón also played in the second-leg.