Northern Ireland – Norway at 8:45 p.m. –

• Northern Ireland – Norway, at 20.45 on TV 2

BELFAST (Dagbladet): Windsor Park is the temple of football in Northern Ireland. The stadium seats 18,000 spectators and is located on the outskirts of Belfast city center. But from 8:45 p.m. there won’t be a soul in the stands when Norway visits.

74-year-old William Clarke shakes his head when Dagbladet meets him outside the venerable stadium.

– The situation is a nightmare, says the pensioner interested in football.

– It’s not fun without spectators. Nothing is like before. One day you can go on a trip. The next day you can’t, says Clarke and looks at her faithful friend, the dog.

UNION: William Clarke loves his Northern Ireland. It is not the same without spectators, he believes. Here on the outskirts of Windsor Park in Belfast. Photo: Tore Ulrik Bratland
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The Ullevaal stadium was also empty against Austria on Friday. How long can he go on like this, with strict measures from the crown and desperate football supporters, without the national federations bleeding to death?

– We had budgeted NOK 19.4 million in ticket revenue for national matches in 2020. But we also saved some costs by not having spectators for matches. The net effect is that this year we are losing between 14 and 15 million, says Kai-Erik Arstad, Assistant Secretary General and Chief Financial Officer, to Dagbladet.

– How dramatic is this?

– The Football Association has challenges this year. The latest estimate is minus ten million crowns. This is an amount the NFF can live with in a crown year, but there are still many points of uncertainty, such as the television deal with the national team. If no international games are played in October or November, it will be critical to the finances of the football association.

– But, says Arstad:

– It is a compensation scheme for sports in income for lost tickets. We hope to recover 70 percent.

AND:

– As long as the international matches go as planned, and we complete the Elite Series and the OBOS league, this year we have satisfactory control.

DIFFERENT COURSES: Lars Lagerbäck had a bad experience the last time Norway was at Windsor Park, in March 2017. Then Northern Ireland won 2-0. Photo: Paul McErlane / NTB scanpix
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The situation varies from week to week. And the finances were possibly not what national team coach Lars Lagerbäck thought when the team trained yesterday at Windsor Park. He is employed to take care of sports results, but he is the external face of the national team, for better or for worse, in all contexts.

And what is the fight really about here in Belfast?

If Norway loses to Northern Ireland, we can forget about the group victory in the Nations League, which provides an additional opportunity for the World Cup final in 2022.

Wounded animal

But it doesn’t help that Norway is coming off a miserable performance against Austria on Friday (1-2). It also doesn’t help that the last time we were at Windsor Park it ended disastrously (0-2). The date was March 26, 2017 and the match marked Lagerbäck’s debut as coach of the Norwegian national team.

– Strange situation

– I have displaced most of it, says the trainer to Dagbladet.

– That game was not good. I pushed certain buttons too much. There were too many long plays. You have to find variety. The responsibility was completely mine.

From 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. yesterday, he returned to the track of nightmare. He walked around with his hands in his pants, chatted with “Perry”, before Dagbladet and TV 2 were cast. Then security chief Geir Ellefsen looked at his watch and declared that the blockade assigned to the media was over.

Northern Ireland reaches a 1-1 deal against Romania. Against Austria, the midfield with Morten Thorsby, Mathias Normann, Sander Berge and Stefan Johansen could not feed the forwards.

Tonight, Lagerbäck makes changes.

Sky Reporter Amazed

Before the Austria game, “everyone” walked and said how well we were on our way to something bigger. Then came Friday, and Norway was pushed back according to all the rules of the art for the first hour.

The loss was not great in the number of goals. But the way it happened was brutal.

– I am very satisfied with the work effort of the players. They worked hard and missed some opportunities. Austria should have created more with the advantage it had.

– But, says the coach.

– What failed the most was our attack game. We become stagnant and passive, almost paralyzed. We didn’t get the movement we wanted by winning matches.

If Norway loses the same way again, the self-examination can be ruthless.

– It is my responsibility to play those games. It’s not like I’m going to escape somehow. But if you can’t do this with the players and support staff, you need to improve. Everyone should look in the mirror.

– There is no doubt that we are a gang of the week of revenge. We did not show our best side against Austria, says Mohamed Elyounoussi,

– We missed a whole Ullevaal. Provide extra equipment. The last half hour, for example, we might need people in the stands.

In the UK, 42,000 people have died from the coronavirus. That we will see full stands during the fall seems like a distant dream.

HONORABLE: This is what parts of Windsor Park look like from the outside. The stadium is located right next to residential buildings. Photo: Tore Ulrik Bratland
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But anyway:

Tonight it’s about a soccer game and three points. Our retired friend outside of Windsor Park has no doubts:

– Northern Ireland win 1-0, says William Clarke.