– I think 86 minutes was good. Then things happen that can happen in football. That’s what happens. It’s heavy, of course. We expected to win the way we played, but we didn’t, says Haaland to the press corps at Ullevaal. MET THE PRESS: Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard. Photo: Vegard B. Lien / news Much of the EC hope evaporated in 104 seconds at Ullevaal on Saturday. Scotland turned 1–0 into 1–2, and suddenly Norway was on shaky ground in the EC qualifiers. When news asks Haaland what he thinks is the reason it turned out like that, he replies: – I think we played a good second half until the last minutes. It can happen to the best, too. It happened to City last year. It happened to us now. I don’t have the answer to that. I’m not the smartest man in the world who has the answer to such questions, so I don’t know. Clear Ødegaard answer Both national team captain Ødegaard and Haaland, who is also part of the captain’s team, emphasize that the playing group has full confidence in Solbakken as national team coach. Haaland believes this is not a question now that Solbakken recently extended his contract. Ødegaard emphasizes that faith is just as strong. – We had a meeting here now where we went through a bit of the game yesterday, and saw what we could have done better. So we have only been clear with each other that we stand together. I still have as much faith in this project. Just as much faith in the team. I really don’t give a shit about what everyone else says and means now. I have just as much faith in what we do. We will fight on and we will come back stronger, says the national team captain. STANDING TOGETHER: Haaland says that the team is doing what Solbakken says, and that they are making the best possible plan to try to get points further. Photo: NTB Ødegaard kept coming back to the fact that the team should continue to fight. He believes there are no simple explanations such as single substitutions or formations, but what the players actually do. – It is tough and heavy now. People want to talk and slaughter us. You do your job and ask critical questions, but we stand together and will come back stronger, says Ødegaard. Haaland: – A problem Against Scotland, Haaland scored from the penalty spot after just under an hour. It was his 22nd goal in 24 international matches. But just before Scotland’s turnaround, Haaland was replaced along with Fredrik Aursnes and Patrick Berg. Solbakken has received a lot of criticism for the triple substitution, and the national team manager explained that Haaland had to leave. On Sunday, Haaland was asked if he actually had to. – Yes, that is, I felt I had done my part. Bringing in a healthy Jørgen Strand Larsen at the top, there’s nothing wrong with that, I think, says Haaland. BLACK: Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard at the Ullevaal grass on Sunday morning. Photo: Vegard B. Lien / news The 22-year-old came to the important international matches after a long season with Manchester City, which ended with the celebration of “The Treble” until Monday evening. Haaland believes this charge did not affect his physical form. – I felt I did my job yesterday. I don’t know what you think, but at least I think I did my job yesterday. You get to try to play and see how you would have done if you had won the treble, so to speak, says Haaland. – So, during the Champions League final I was tired after 65 minutes there, too. That’s what happens in football, he continues. When asked about Norway’s mental capacity to cope with stress and pressure, Haaland replies: – We haven’t been in a championship for I don’t know how long. We do not have the experience to reach championships, as, for example, Denmark has had in recent years. It is of course a problem, but we are hungry boys who want to learn and want to progress and develop. I think that is important. For me personally, it is important to come up with things I learn, and what I can do to make Norway successful. Because at the end of the day, that’s what I want. Went out high Solbakken had to answer for his tactical choices before the collapse. On Sunday morning, after digesting the disappointment, he met the press again at Ullevaal. – It has been hard. But thats how it is. There’s no hiding the fact that it’s possibly the biggest letdown I’ve had. I feel sorry for the guys and the support staff. I am responsible for you, for Norway and for the NFF, says Solbakken the following day. Norway now has one win in the last seven matches, where only Ireland have been beaten. At the same time, there has been one point from three qualifying matches, and the chances of a direct place at the EC have shrunk to microscopic. This is in stark contrast to Solbakken’s own goals and ambitions. When the World Cup hopes were extinguished in Rotterdam in 2021, the national team manager believed that one must look behind the results. – It is so easy to throw oneself over the fact that we do not qualify. I tell the guys that too, we have to live with that until we stand there. I am 100 percent sure, at least 99 percent, that we will be in the German European Championships in 2024 if we continue the trend we are in now. We have a lot to build on, and must not allow ourselves to be fooled. We must take constructive criticism, but we must also see the overall picture, said Solbakken. When news highlights this statement, the national team manager is not as optimistic. – Now it is 98. No, it is clear that we have put ourselves in a very difficult situation. We deserved much more in those games here. Yesterday we should have won the game, in Georgia we should have won. We stand with 1 where we should have stood with 6. It goes without saying that it’s more difficult, we have to try to win rough and tumble, says the national team manager and states: – The EC qualifiers are very, very difficult, both in terms of points and mentally. Absence in the interview zone After the defeat, all players, according to UEFA’s regulations, had to make themselves available in the interview zone. But several stars shone with their absence, including Alexander Sørloth, Stefan Strandberg and Erling Braut Haaland. The national team manager was tight-lipped at first when he was asked about the absences in the press zone: – I think they mostly do. When asked if Haaland has received special treatment, Solbakken admits that he has not pressed Haaland on the media piece after he took the treble with Manchester City last week. – There is a limit to that. In the history we have had, he probably lined up well last week’s meeting and the meeting before that he probably lined up well. He was also exempted from the collection before there. And I haven’t pressured him in this gathering, I’m completely honest about that. I mentioned the media bit for ten seconds at a meeting we had on Wednesday night. Then he didn’t want to. In a normal everyday life, which we cannot say he has had now, he will take part of it. SKUFFA: It was a strongly affected Leo Skiri Østigård who met the press after yesterday’s huge bang. Teammate Erling Braut Haaland dropped out of the interview zone yesterday, but unexpectedly showed up on Sunday. Photo: NTB Possible setback Norway again has both Spain (home) and Scotland (away) in the EC qualifiers. Even with five Norwegian victories in the last five matches, Norway is still dependent on their rivals stumbling in order to go directly to the EC. Thus, a national league play-off could once again provide an extra chance for Norway, but this is also not certain. Norway came second in the autumn’s national league, and that means, in short, that Ståle Solbakken’s men are dependent on which teams qualify directly for the EC. Either four of the seven teams ranked ahead of Norway in the previous national league’s B division must qualify for the EC, or almost all the A division teams must qualify. These seven nations are ranked ahead of Norway at the B level: Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Scotland, Finland, Ukraine and Iceland. If enough people from the A division qualify for the EC, it can open up a play-off place for the best placed teams in the B division. On Tuesday, Norway meets Cyprus at Ullevaal Stadium at 20.45.
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– I don’t have the answer to such questions – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
