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STRIKE: Erling Braut Haaland and Alexander Sørloth continued the great match at the top together against Romania. In the middle Birger Meling. Photo: Bjørn Steinar Delebekk / VG
ULLEVAAL STADION (VG) A young, offensive and cheerful Norwegian team has scored ten goals in the last three games. Unfortunately, only one of them entered the settlement that meant the most.
October’s 5-1 win over Northern Ireland and Sunday’s 4-0 win over Romania contrast with Thursday’s 1-2 loss to Serbia, as an encouraging reminder of the potential that lies in the Norwegian team, but frustrating recognition of how bad it turned out to take a big step towards the 2021 European Championship.
Although match football was delivered at the Ullevaal Stadium against the Romanians, it was not just positive emotions that flowed through the bodies of the players dressed in red at the end of the match.
Martin Ødegaard, who delivered two goal passes, told TV 2 that he was “a little sad that we are doing it today and not against Serbia”, while striker Alexander Sørloth summed it up like this:
– I sit down and am a bit cursed after the game. We see how good we can be.
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Thursday’s recession hit the entire camp of the Norwegian national team hard. Stefan Strandberg, who had the opportunity early on as a midfielder against Romania, says the players have taken a long time to recover from the blow.
– We process that Serbia quite agrees. It hit us hard. We understand that Norwegians dream of coming to the European Championships, but believe me, there is no one who hurts more than this group. It’s something we’ve been dreaming of since we were little, so we’ve been working hard. It was hard to swallow and we didn’t really finish it until yesterday afternoon or early today, Strandberg tells VG.
– But we can’t lie and feel sorry for ourselves. We have to get up, and I think we will do it today in a very good way. We show that we have character in the team and we stand firm. They told us we should be … what was left? The largest and most beautiful?
– The biggest and the best in any case, Lagerbäck corrects with a smile.
The Norwegian players themselves took the lead for several matches before Sunday’s game against Romania. They also split into five groups to process their thoughts after the Serbia match.
– We haven’t done it very often. It was so they could think a little and think too, says Lagerbäck, who says that group work consisted of discussing and writing thoughts about team attitudes, defensive play, and attacking play.
– We needed to air out a bit. There was a lot of excitement and frustration after the Serbia game. I think it helped a lot for this game. We put our thoughts a bit on paper. Today we see that we are doing the same as we should, but in a much better way than against Serbia, says Stefan Strandberg.
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During an eleven-minute monologue, Lagerbäck on Saturday focused on what he believes are unrealistically high expectations built by the media around the Norwegian national team.
– I don’t think it has any influence on your work, answer questions about how you think the media should cover Sunday’s 4-0 victory.
But perhaps it was no accident that it was midfielder Stefan Strandberg and substitute rookie Jens Petter Hauge who, to the surprise of those present, were selected to attend the post-match press conference, rather than more anticipated names such as the three-scorer. goals Erling Braut Haaland or waiter double Martin Ødegaard.
