Norway’s ravages on the sub-national team made Germany scratch their heads: then they took an unusual step

OSLO / ULLEVAAL STADION (Nettavisen): It has not been many years since the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) received harsh criticism for the development of players in Norway.

In recent years, however, the pipe has taken on a different sound. While Erling Braut Haaland and Alexander Sørloth play for their respective top clubs in the Bundesliga, Martin Ødegaard is at Real Madrid.

Sander Berge makes a living at Sheffield United, while Jens Petter Hauge recently went to giant Italian club Milan.

The Norwegian team quintet are just a few of the many examples of young Norwegian players that characterize Europe’s great clubs.

In common for most of them is that they have also been part of the initiative of the national team U of the NFF «Landslagsskolen».

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Project group created

Håkon Grøttland is head of the player and coach development section of the Norwegian Football Association, and he is delighted to see that Norway has built a reputation for bringing great talent to great clubs.

While the A team is still awaiting their first championship, various U teams have taken several scalps in recent years.

Soccer superpower Germany, in particular, has had to bite into the bitter apple at Tier U on several occasions when counting games in recent years.

Aside from Germany’s 2-1 win against Norway U21 in 2018, it has been difficult being a player for the German sub-national team against Norway on several age-specific levels.

* The U21 team defeated Germany 3-1 in the 2017 European Championship qualifiers.

* The under-19 team won against the dressed in white in the qualifying rounds of the European Championship in both 2018 (5-2) and 2019 (1-0). Erling Braut Haaland scored two goals in the great victory.

* At the same time, the Germans had to give up on Norway U18 in a four-nation tournament in November 2019 after Noah Jean Holm scored twice.

The trend has meant that the German association has really opened its eyes to how players develop in Norway, if we want to believe in Grøttland.

Because although it is common for the different associations to speak together, the German Football Federation went one step further.

In the end, they established a separate group to work towards the NFF.

– They’ve scratched their heads a lot on age-specific national teams. Germany, which was defeated by both one and the other Norwegian national team a few years ago, had an obedient project group that worked with “how are we going to manage to beat Norway?”, Grøttland tells Nettavisen and elaborates.

-Both because we had good players, and because we played in a way that they did not fully understand, so it is true that the Germans have been very curious about how to take the rat, he says.

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U-20 director Pål Arne “Paco” Johansen has also previously spoken with Nettavisen about the curiosity of the Germans.

In 2019 he revealed that he had received a message from German soccer leader Meikel Schonwitz after Norway defeated Germany 5-2, following goals from Haaland and Leo Skiri Østigård, among others, who are now in the A selection against Serbia.

– Then he wrote me a message: “You hit us a second time, this was hard for us” and things like that. I know it has been a relatively big problem in Germany that they have lost twice to little Norway, the Norwegian coach told Nettavisen at the time.

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– There are many who are jealous

Grøttland says that the various football associations have an ongoing dialogue with each other and points out that the Germans’ project group was more about the purely tactical in order to win.

– But it says something. Now we are starting to bring out young players who are used to beating big nations like Germany, and that does something with the mentality and what is to come. It is nothing special to face Germany, because we have beaten them before. Our boys are no longer standing with a hat in hand, he says.

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He says it hasn’t been long since the NFF was ridiculed and harshly criticized for a lack of player development.

Now the wind has changed.

– There are many who are jealous of what we achieve, because very few can do it. We have a different model than most unions in Europe. With a school of the national team with a clear common thread of the players is 12 years, and a close interaction between width and top. They all play an important role in player development work in Norway. In both small and large clubs, and that way we get a lot out of the little. Because we work together and see the utility of others, he concludes.

Tjærnås: – Of course, greetings.

Soccer expert Lars Tjærnås also sees more and more Norwegian players taking notice in Europe.

He believes that one of the most important factors is that players like Martin Ødegaard, Erling Braut Haaland and Sander Berge have now paved the way for even younger players.

– His performances in the big leagues have made Norway a more attractive market, start with Nettavisen before continuing.

– But very, very important is still long-term thinking. The academy model that was implemented a few years ago should have a lot of credit. The short version is that it has given Norwegian clubs the two things that are most important to developing talent: competence and resources. Today, a talent is followed by competent people in many places, in most clubs, districts, regions and associations, he says.

Tjærnås is familiar with the German Football Association’s group of projects towards Norway and believes that it is proof that things are being done correctly in this country.

– Of course it’s a greeting. Age-specific national teams have been doing very well for a few years. That’s fine, but more importantly, they’ve helped develop some as well.

The Viasport expert, who for several years worked at the Norwegian Football Association as a coach for several age-specific national teams, believes that much of the reason for today’s good results is longevity and structure.

He says that a very meticulous job has been done to make a common thread through the career of a player, club, circuit and federation.

– The best days of the week have simply provided more and better learning. The best development of the player is also the development of the coach. If you focus on coaches, those with more competition will provide better development for more players, he says before finishing.

– Much is good, both in the best clubs, circles and associations. Then don’t forget the little clubs and the undergrowth. In my opinion, the most important thing now is to continue bringing experience to small clubs without great resources. The biggest trees grow in the best weeds.