MARK Hughes (pictured) was beaming with delight after Wales' qualifying adventure for Euro 2004 was mapped-out almost exactly to his liking, writes Peter Shuttleworth.

Sparky wanted the glitzy Italians at the 72,500-capacity Millennium Stadium early on 'The Road to Portugal' campaign so they could fill the place with patriotic fans.

He didn't want a game next June, just weeks after the English football season ends; he didn't want to travel to Azerbaijan with the worry of playing two games in five days and he wanted to play Finland and Yugoslavia - the two teams Wales will scrap it out with for second place - at home in the last two games.

Someone upstairs must have been looking after him as Wales play Italy at home in their second game after a trip to Finland.

Hughes admitted: "We must improve our home form in this campaign. In the World Cup qualifiers we saved our better performances for away, but now our players have got used to the Millennium stadium and feel more comfortable at home."

After just two hours of discussions at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, near Cardiff, the Group Nine nations came out needing an instant caffeine rush - but Hughes just wanted to buy a lottery ticket!

"Everyone of us had to make compromises," said a diplomatic Hughes. "And there was a definite will to make sure we didn't leave the table without having come to a decision. "Maybe not everyone will be happy with everything but each association can take away something and be happy with something and that is more preferable than going to the lottery of picking balls out, which none of us around the table wanted.

"Overall I'm quite happy with our sequence of games. "It will be a difficult group. What struck me in the meeting was the higher seeds were taking us very seriously and were disappointed they had to face us at a difficult time, so that shows how far we have come."

And Italy's head coach Giovanni Trappatoni admitted: "Wales are a very tough side now and I think they play better football under Mark Hughes. They are well organised and have young and exciting players."

Wales' Group 9 qualifying matches: Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan. 2002: September 7/8: Finland v Wales; October 15/16: Wales v Italy; November 20: Azerbaijan v Wales.

2003 March 29/30: Wales v Azerbaijan; April 1/2: Yugoslavia v Wales; September 6/7: Italy v Wales; September 9/10: Wales v Finland; October 11/12: Wales v Yugoslavia.