Norway coach Nils Johan Semb is sweating the match against Spain even though his side has proved themselves in the past. [Sports Network]

Scotland and the Netherlands highlight the EURO 2004 playoff round set to take place over two legs on November 15/16 and 18/19.

The Scots and the Dutch are two of 10 teams that have a shot at five places in the European championships next year in Portugal.

Scottish manager Berti Vogts admitted that his club has no easy task against the Dutch.

"We are the underdogs, the Netherlands are the big favorites," Vogts told Sky Sports News. "But we have to play two matches, and we know we played well against Germany (in qualifying), and they were also big favorites."

Vogts even claimed that his side will need "a lot of luck" against the Netherlands led by Dick Advocaat, who returns to Scotland where he once coached Rangers.

Advocaat has made it no secret that he wants to upend the Scots for "personal reasons."

Having been rivals for more than 70 years, Holland holds the upper hand of late. The Dutch haven't lost to Scotland in the last six meetings, dating back to 1982. During that span, Scotland has scored just one goal.

Included in those meetings were the 1992 and 1996 European championships. The Netherlands won the first and the second resulted in a scoreless draw.

Another intriguing match-up pits Spain versus Norway. The Spaniards find themselves in unfamiliar territory, having to qualify for Portugal through the playoffs.

Norway coach Nils Johan Semb is sweating the match even though his side has proved themselves in the past against Spain.

"This will be extremely challenging," said Semb. "We will have to work extremely hard. But nothing is impossible."

Meanwhile, Spain coach Inaki Saez has weather concerns on his mind when his club visits the Nordic region in November.

"It's a bad time to be going up to Norway," Saez said. "The main problem for us will be the cold weather and perhaps the pitch will be in a poor state."

The two have met in the European championships before with Norway edging the Spaniards, 1-0 in 2000.

The other three playoff ties are Latvia versus Turkey, Croatia against Slovenia and Russia hosting Wales.

Croatia has not lost to Slovenia in their last six meetings, but head coach Otto Baric isn't looking ahead.

"I admit I am satisfied, but I don't think it will be easy," said Baric. "We are not stupid enough to underestimate them. We must play two perfect games, we don't have room for error."

Despite struggling against their playoff opponents, Slovenia's soccer program has made huge strides of late.

"We are not in a position to be the favorite because we are a small football country, but in the last four years we have played in the EURO finals and the World Cup finals," said president of the Slovenia Football Association Rudi Karl. "From a sporting point of view, football is an unpredictable game and we will try do our best."

Another small country, Wales will travel to Russia for the first leg before returning home for the second meeting. Welsh manager Mark Hughes knows it's a tough draw, but it could have been worse.

"I have to say we have avoided some of the more potent footballing nations, so we are reasonably happy." Hughes said. "There is a very realistic chance we can get through."

Latvia knows it has its hands full for their match-up against Turkey, who were a surprise semifinalist at the 2002 World Cup.

"We'll try our best, but it will be hard," said Latvia coach Aleksandrs Starkovs. "They are definitely stronger than Sweden at the moment."

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