Semb Nils Johan, the Norwegian coach, will send his team into action against Yugoslavia at Liege tomorrow with a familiar message.

"People criticised us for our tactics when we beat Spain but why should we now change the way we play the game," he said after supervising training yesterday.

Decoded, that means another exercise in Spartan commitment based on weight of numbers in defence and a sharp counter.

It didn't make for pretty viewing in the Spanish game and the prospect of an expansive drama in Liege, is scarcely enhanced by the fact that the Yugoslavs' game plan is not a whole lot different.

Their opening match confirmed suspicions of a suspect defence - a problem accentuated by the absence of suspended Sinisa Mihajlovic and injuries to Vladimir Jugovic and Darko Kovacevic. Norway, too, may struggle in central defence where Henning Berg, so influential in weathering Spain's early assault in Rotterdam, has a hamstring injury that will take at least another week to heal.

Yet, the evidence is that Norwegian pragmatism will again prevail in their relentless march to the quarter-finals.