Spain coach in danger of missing another important date
Spain coach Inaki Saez had to miss his son's wedding to be present for his side's 2-1 win over Norway in their Euro 2004 play-off first leg in Valencia on Saturday.
Spain coach Inaki Saez had to miss his son's wedding to be present for his side's 2-1 win over Norway in their Euro 2004 play-off first leg in Valencia on Saturday.
Spain's failure to claim a more emphatic victory leaves the coach in danger of missing the most important date in his professional diary as well, with a place at next year's European Championship finals in Portugal far from assured.
The consolation for Saez as he prepares his team for Wednesday's second leg in Oslo is that the situation could be a lot worse.
Norway took a shock lead 14 minutes into Saturday's first leg through Steffen Iversen, the man who scored the winner when the two sides met in Euro 2000.
Spain managed to level the scores within seven minutes with a Raul header from a set-piece but despite concerted pressure they only managed one more goal, Henning Berg deflecting a Ruben Baraja shot into his own net with five minutes to go.
That late own goal came as a blessed relief for the Spanish, who believe that the same policy of all-out attack will see them through in Oslo.
"The result may not be perfect but if we can't win in Norway we don't deserve to be at Euro 2004," Baraja said.
"It was a shame not to get a third goal but we'll continue fighting and go out to win the second leg."
Saez is not expecting a significantly different game plan from the Norwegians second time around, even though they will need to score at least one goal to go through.
"They're not going to go out and attack form the start," Saez said. "We'll be playing the same way as in Mestalla, going out for a win."
The problem for Spain in the second leg will be the lack of a 53,000-strong Mestalla crowd cheering them on and the possibility of freezing conditions in the Norwegian capital.
Whatever the weather, the night should be a bit more comfortable for Saez, without the wedding of his son to worry about.
"It went well," Saez said of the wedding. "No one was allowed to watch the football, under orders from the groom's mother."