The strength of English football was tested in Eindhoven last night and gets another close examination today, as nine of Norway's 22-man squad play in England.

Five are likely to start against Spain, and another two - the defenders Andre Bergdolmo and Bjorn Otto Bragstad - have been linked with summer moves to England. The contrast with their opponents could scarcely be greater; all of Jose Antonio Camacho's players are based in Spain.

So diverse are the two teams' styles that Barcelona's Pep Guardiola has described this as a meeting between "night and day".

Just how crude Norway are has been a matter of feverish debate in recent days. Trond Sollied, one of Norway's most respected coaches, who takes charge of Bruges next season, claimed: "If everyone played like Norway no one would watch international matches." Nils Johan Semb, the Norway coach, offered an angry response.

"Norway are going to be the toughest side we face in the group stage," Guardiola added. "Their way of playing is going to cause a lot of problems for us and we'll have to be at full concentration for 90 minutes." All the more so because Norway's two wide midfielders, most likely Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the Valencia-bound John Carew, turn 4-5-1 into 4-3-3 on the counter-attack and have a habit of interchanging positions with Tore Andre Flo. Some Spaniards fear for the Real Madrid centre-back Fernando Hierro, who has played only 90 minutes since March.

Spain hope their right-back Michel Salgado will recover from an ankle problem. Henning Berg should play at the centre of a Norway defence said to lack pace without the absent Ronny Johnsen.