Upbeat Puyol prepared to give all

By Graham Hunter in Valencia

The first leg of Spain's UEFA EURO 2004™ play-off against Norway will bring a mixture of emotions for FC Barcelona defender Carles Puyol. Saturday night's game will be three years to the day since the then 22-year-old made his international debut in a disappointing 2-1 defeat by the Netherlands - a performance and result Spain cannot afford to repeat against the Norwegians.

Happy memories
And if, as expected, Norway's main striker at Valencia CF's Mestalla stadium is Tore André Flo, Puyol will remember that Flo scored three times the last time he came face to face with the Catalan in a two-legged UEFA Champions League quarter-final in April 2000. Puyol had the last laugh, though, as Barça came from behind to eliminate Flo's Chelsea FC 6-4 on aggregate. "It is a fantastic memory," said Puyol of the victory.

Sole representative
Spain coach Iñaki Sáez will again ask Puyol to play at left-back, not his preferred position, at the Mestalla for a game in which the 25-year-old will be the only Barcelona player on view. Speaking to uefa.com, Puyol said of this situation: "It is not 'normal' for me to be the only Barça player in the squad as guys like Xavi [Hernández], Gabri [García], Víctor Valdés and Luis García are perfectly capable of playing for the national team. I am sure they will be back with us soon."

Under pressure
So long European football's great underachievers, the Spanish are heavy favourites to advance to Portugal - a burden which sits well on Puyol's shoulders. "I really don't mind the pressure which is bearing down on us at the moment," he said. "In fact, being a Barcelona player I have had to get used to it!

'Strong opponents'
"Personally, I find it much easier to focus on a particular match and concentrate on the job we have to do when that pressure is on us. I respect Norway very much and regard them as strong opponents but I was pleased to avoid both the Netherlands and Turkey because I reckoned they were the most difficult of any of the teams we could have drawn."

Out of position
The mop-haired defender accepts the compliment paid to him by Sáez, who considers him capable of abandoning the right-back and centre-half positions in which Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has deployed him this season. "Obviously it is easier for me to play right-back or central defence rather than left-back but I don't consider it a big strain - even for the national team. All you need to bring to the challenge is passion plus extra determination and you can do enough to help your team win no matter where you play."

Proud Catalan
Puyol is not the only Catalan in the squad, thanks to the presence of RC Deportivo La Coruña striker Alberto Luque, but he is the only Barcelona player and the defender is keenly aware of both statistics, telling uefa.com: "I am proud to be a Catalan, first and foremost, but when I play for Spain I always give absolutely everything I have and it would be unforgivable for us not to qualify for EURO 2004™."