Neutrals should be supporting Spain's Euro cause

Raul Gonzales Bianco, the talisman and guiding light of contemporary Spanish football, faced up to the cameras and microphones last Friday.

The scene was the Hotel Parador El Saler, 20 kilometres down the coast from Valencia and a place more accustomed to those who prefer their ball games to include greens, roughs, 18 holes and the club bar.

"I always give my all on the pitch, when I'm playing for Real Madrid, but it is also true that for me the most fantastic thing is to play for Spain. My hope is that I can win something important for my country."

Raul did not add "finally", but he might as well have done. Notwithstanding a glittering decade with Real Madrid which has seen him win three Champions League and four Spanish championship titles, 26-year-old Raul has no medals to show for an international career that has seen him win 67 caps and score 35 goals for Spain.

For Raul and for Spain, the time to deliver starts tomorrow night in Oslo when Spain take a 2-1 lead over Norway into the return leg of their Euro 2004 play-off.

In what is clearly a difficult task, it may help the Spanish to know that a whole host of neutral observers will be rooting for them to triumph over their Nordic hosts.

On its day, a Spanish national team in full "Red Devil" attacking flow is an awesome sight. No one who - like your correspondent - was privileged to watch Spain's 4-3 first round win over Yugoslavia and their 2-1 quarter-final defeat by France at Euro 2000 is ever likely to forget the Spanish contribution to two games of mesmerising skill and flowing football.

The overall quality of Spanish club football at the moment gives support to those who argue that, sooner or later, the national team will perform to the same high level. (Were it not for some questionable refereeing in favour of South Korea, Spain might well have done just that at the 2002 World Cup).

Nonetheless, the enigma remains. Namely that, for all its glorious tradition, Spain has only one European Championship (1964) and not even a whiff of a World Cup title.

When the draw for these play-offs was made last month, there were sighs of relief all round Europe when it emerged that the Spanish had avoided the other "prestige" side in the play-offs, namely Holland.

After Saturday's 2-1 win in Valencia, that relief rapidly turned again to anxiety.

Even if Rosenborg goalkeeper Espen Johnsen was the man of the match, Spain also had good reason to be thankful to Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who made a terrific save from Norway's Martin Andersen midway through the second half to deny Norway a 2-1 lead.

In the end, Spain picked up the win thanks to an 85th-minute deflected goal when Glasgow Rangers defender Henning Berg inadvertently touched home a shot from Valencia midfielder Ruben Baraja. For a side whose coach, Inaki Saez, had said he was looking for a 3-0 win, this was a disappointing result.

Certainly, there are plenty of Norwegians who feel the omens augur well for them. Even without the suspended Berg and injured striker Roar Strand, Liverpool defender John Arne Riise thinks his side can do it.

"I still think we can win 1-0 in Oslo. I think the 2-1 result still leaves Spain under pressure because they know that any top international team can beat another 1-0 on any given night."

The Spanish can take comfort from the fact that, while the Norwegians played a defensive game in Valencia last Saturday, they'll have to open up tomorrow night as they come in search of the goal that could win the tie.

Spain will hope that the craft of captain Raul, allied to the youth and dash of Jose Antonio Reyes (Seville) and Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid) will make the most of the spaces that open up before them.

Spain's result, too, will be of major interest for at least one neutral country. For Euro 2004 host country Portugal, it would be nothing less than a disaster, especially in lost fan-related revenue, if their powerful neighbour failed to make it to the finals.

For the rest of us football lovers, it would be a disaster too.