– With one team you could see technique, on the other team you could see physics. This time technique won. It was a satisfied and confident Serbian national team manager who met the Norwegian press after the 2-0 victory over Norway at the Ullevaal stadium on Tuesday evening. But Dragan Stojkovic had plenty to smile about. Serbia won both matches, won the group, grabbed a playoff spot for the EC and secured seeding level 2. In other words, four out of four things Norway dreamed of before the match. Few would disagree that Serbia deservedly won. – Long balls against Haaland When asked by news if Stojkovic was surprised that Serbia was so much better on Norway’s home ground, he just had to grin. – No, no, no, I was not surprised. We played against Norway in Belgrade and know what Norway stands for. There are two different ways to play. Norway are physically strong and mostly play long balls against Haaland. While we are a team that likes to play, have the ball and control the game with good, technical and beautiful football. That is the difference, says Dragan Stojkovic to news. – We deserved to win, and I’m glad we were able to show the Norwegian audience some good football, he adds. Dragan Stojkovic is far from surprised that Serbia swept Norway at Ullevaal. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB – Norway has not been in a major tournament since 2000. Do you think Norway’s style of play, which you describe as a physical style of play, is the right one to get Norway to the playoffs? – I like to talk about my own team, but Norway has quality. In this group, the last match was decisive, and they held on to first place until tonight. That means they have quality, he believes. news submitted Stojkovic’s judgment to Leo Østigård. This is how he responds to the claim that Norway mostly hit long balls and played on physics. – They made it difficult for us and went man-to-man offensively. We ended up beating Erling, Sørloth and Moi a bit, so they were three against three. So… Yes. They had a good plan, says Østigård. – A sweet revenge Norway won 1-0 in Serbia, but lost 0-2 at home in Ullevaal. Stojkovic believes that the Norwegian triumph in Belgrade does not show a correct picture of the truth. – In Belgrade we lost, but I don’t think we deserved to lose the match. We created a lot of chances that time, but their keeper was brilliant. Norway also defended well that match. We accepted the loss at the time, but always knew we would get another chance in Oslo. That is exactly what happened. We got revenge, and for us it was sweet revenge, describes the Serbia coach. – Do you think Norway would be a bigger threat this time if they played in a different way? – It is not my problem how they play, I care about how my own team plays. For me, it’s about how my team plays, and we always focus on how we can influence the game ourselves, and it doesn’t matter what the name of the opponent is. From the day I got the job, this has been the goal, and we try to win every game, he says. The Serbia loss thus joins the series of Norwegian downturns over the past 22 years. Now you have to wait until March 2023 before the next significant match is played. Then the official EC qualifiers start, and the groups are already drawn on 9 October. – We must not dig ourselves in. National team captain Martin Ødegaard believes there is no point in dwelling on the slump. – We must not bury ourselves. It is important to remember that we have taken steps. We must not allow ourselves to be influenced too much by these two games here, we have beaten several good teams, so of course it is a bit sour with this ending here, but we must take the positives with us. There will be a qualifier where we have to bite the bullet, see who we get and make sure we get to the championship. Then nobody remembers these matches, he says to news. Sander Berge believes the failure against Serbia has made the national team a richer experience. – We should not think that we are the world’s worst national team. We weren’t the best in the world before the two games either, so you have to understand that. They are a notch above us as of today, and that is where we want to get to, so then we know there is a way to go. We have to catch up and get better, he says. There are now two practice matches against Ireland and Finland in November before the national team year 2022 is over.
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– A sweet revenge – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
