A top pair to be proud of, Norway – VG

Both are 194 centimeters. They are both strong. They are both quite fast. And they both love to score goals. 44 goals for Haaland at club level became two against Northern Ireland. 33 goals for Sørloth at club level became two against Northern Ireland. We hoped and believed that the two would form a dangerous duo in the national team.

On Monday night we got the answer, both to that and to Norway having understood the seriousness.

We asked for a reaction from Lars Lagerbäck and the men’s national team A after the somewhat shocking performance that was shown against Austria at the Ullevaal stadium on Friday night.

It came – immediately. Lars Lagerbäck is not a man with a high heart rate. But towards Northern Ireland, the pulse gradually became lower than normal.

And the reason was Norway’s new pair of strikers, Sørloth and Haaland, sons of two of the 1994 World Cup Norway World Cup heroes.

Now Alexander Sørloth and Erling Braut Haaland will try to lead Norway to the first World Cup since 1998 and the first European Championship since 2000.

He also helped bring in a creative player like Mohamed Elyounoussi on the one hand. And then of course it is an important point that Northern Ireland is a much weaker team than Austria, and especially a team that is much better suited to Norway.

But it is allowed with a little praise on a day like this, where the joy of playing, the good performances of many players and tremendous efficiency made it a joyous night in Belfast for the masters of Norwegian football.

See the objectives here:

Mohamed Elyounoussi had not started an international match for Norway since March 2019. He spent a minute and 40 seconds proving that he had lost. A brilliant long pass from captain Stefan Johansen, who played a good game, was gently knocked down by “Moi”. And the end left no doubt:

Norway was in the lead, just before the match started.

Then there was the Sørloth and Haaland show for all the unpaid tickets in Belfast on Monday night.

After a Northern Ireland draw, once again after a weak Norwegian stopper game, the top two scorers took control of the match.

It was dangerous every time one of them caught the ball. In the seventh minute, Haaland scored 2-1, after Sørloth headed in and “Moi” touched the ball.

Haaland jingled the ball into goal, as only the best forwards in Europe do.

After 19 minutes, it was Sørloth’s turn. A perfect post from Haitam Aleesami, Sørloth continued in goal for Norway 3-1.

Break. It seemed comfortable. The Northern Irish had nothing to contribute except the score.

And if the match hadn’t been decided at half-time, Sørloth and Haaland spent 13 minutes doing it after half-time.

47 minutes: New great pass from Stefan Johansen against Haaland. He ran from the ascending pin and was able to finish himself off. But Haaland saw that Sørloth was better placed and therefore Norway 4-1.

58 minutes: Haaland is “headed” by Omar Elabdellaoui, after another great Norwegian attack. And the Dortmund forward just thundered the ball into goal for Norway’s 5-1.

What are we going to say? Joshua King was upset. It is not possible to say anything about it. The efficiency of the two young Norwegian forwards at Windsor Park was of the highest category. They scored on “everything.” And if we include Haaland’s goal, after a Sørloth post against Austria, then there is no doubt:

Norway has one of the best forward pairs in Europe. Yes, it was a weak team from Northern Ireland. But you should still be “in”, chase, fight. They both did. It was a pleasure to see it, every now and then the hairs on my arms stood on end over a couple of scores, which were high class.

And somehow there was no doubt in the finals: the ball should go into the goal, it’s that simple, the best. And it is so difficult for those who do not maintain this level. Erling Braut Haaland “er” scores. The whole body will score, every time. All her movements are directed somewhere: towards goals. Sørloth is the king of the air. But also deadly in front of the opponent’s goal.

For all of Norwegian football, this is the rebound we might expect, after the very weak match against Austria. So we have not forgotten that the opponent was weak and that the problems with the blocks are there. But at the same time: Northern Ireland played 1-1 away against Romania on Friday, which in turn beat Austria away on Monday night.

And so the Norwegian Nations League group is wide open.

There was no need for more.

And on October 8, Serbia will visit.

So maybe Martin Ødegaard is back too.

You allow yourself to rejoice.