– I was never close to this – VG

– I tolerate well that there are disagreements on football issues. However, Alexander made several accusations that had nothing to do with the way we play football, but which went on to say that Per Joar Hansen and I were incompetent as coaches both in terms of management and football, says the director of the Norwegian national team in a press release sent by the Norwegian Football Association.

VG wrote on Saturday about the dispute between star forward Alexander Sørloth and the assistant coach of the national team, Per Joar Hansen, during a meeting in front of the entire team the day before Wednesday’s game against Northern Ireland.

On Wednesday, VG, after further conversations with various sources in and around the national team squad, revealed more details about the prelude to the same meeting, which is described as heated and with strong exchanges between Sørloth and the manager of the national team Lars Lagerbäck at Thon Hotel Storo in Oslo.

Here is VG’s timeline of what should have happened:

– After 30 years in international football, I have never experienced that players have crossed the border in this way. I have had many discussions about soccer with players that have been based on facts and about soccer. But nothing has ever come close to this, says the Swede.

Four sources also informed VG that the national team coach made a reference to Sørloth’s unfortunate performance against Cyprus in 2018:

– How dare you, who missed an open goal against Cyprus two years ago, to say anything?

– I was shocked. I’ve never experienced anything like this, says one of VG’s witnesses. Several others have expressed similar reactions.

In the press release, Lagerbäck elaborates on this episode and criticizes himself:

– When we left the room, unfortunately I lost my patience. Then came my statement on Cyprus and I pointed out: “You were not so arrogant two years ago in Cyprus.” I regret this choice of words that came after a long and heated discussion. This was an attempt to make Alexander understand that he has to adapt to how the team should work. For me, it’s about creating a good acting culture, says Lagerbäck.

– The evening ended with Per Joar Hansen, Stefan Johansen, Alexander and I talking together and holding hands, and we agreed to leave the case behind. I’ve always had the principle of protecting players externally. For the sake of the integrity of the coaches and anonymous sources in VG coverage, we had to deviate from this principle and comment on what happened, Lagerbäck says in the press release.

Multiple sources have spoken to VG to say that players received a strict message after the events that nothing should be leaked to outsiders.

VG has only been told parts of what was a long feud between Sørloth and the boss, where the central theme was the team’s style of play. The forward is said to have expressed that he thought Norway should be better prepared to play Serbia’s 3-4-2-1 formation, and that a more offensive approach should be taken in this and other matches.

In the press release, NFF writes that Sørloth at the players’ meeting the next morning on his own initiative asked to say something in plenary. He then apologized to the support staff and the group of players for the way he had behaved the night before.

– For the best of the national team, Per Joar Hansen and I hope that Alexander lives up to what we agreed to so that we can put this behind us. Now we will focus on the next three international matches in November, says the Swede in the press release.

In the press release, NFF writes that Alexander Sørloth will not comment on the case to fotball.no. So far, VG has also failed to get a comment from him.

Men’s national team captain Stefan Johansen, Omar Elabdellaoui and Joshua King say in a press release on fotball.no that they are one hundred percent behind the technical team.