– It’s been absolutely bloody mentally, says Strandberg about the time after last weekend’s loss to Scotland. The centre-back does not hide the defeat still sitting in: It is difficult to rejoice too much about the Cyprus result. He does not want to use the word unfair, but he believes that the national team deserved much better based on their performance in the EC qualification. – You cushion. Some laugh. Some are flying mad. Some use gallows humor. We have gone through most of the emotional register, says Strandberg about how the playing group reacted after the Scotland blow. – How did you handle it yourself? – I have shed tears myself. I may seem like a type who barks a lot, but it means a lot to me. The guys in that dressing room mean a lot to me, and that we will succeed, says Strandberg, who says that it was the first time he cried in two years. Solbakken has never experienced anything like this. Midfielder colleague Leo Skiri Østigård suffered leg cramps and messed it up before Scotland’s 1-1 draw. He says that he has received many messages of support from the Norwegian people afterwards. – That match doesn’t slip out of my head so easily, so it may be that I have to spend some time on it. It is normal. It has been difficult, says Østigård to news. Maybe he should have been replaced, he says. But then he might have regretted it, too. CONCENTRATED: Leo Skiri Østigård before kick-off against Cyprus. Photo: NTB – It is very easy to say in retrospect. What’s done is done, and you can regret it as long as you want, or you can think next. It is an important lesson to take with you, says the Napoli stopper. National team manager Ståle Solbakken tells of tough times in the backroom to get the team up for Tuesday’s game. He himself went almost sleepless for several days, and the bitter loss gnawed at his head. – First of all, I had to get a hold of myself, because I am the leader of this. Then I had to gather support and say that now we have the challenge of the ages, says Solbakken. He lists a number of setbacks and challenges during his time as Copenhagen coach, but summarizes: – I have never, never, never experienced such a setback as that. HAD TO DIG DEEP: National team manager Ståle Solbakken. Photo: NTB Roser Ødegaard The collapse simultaneously kicked the legs under the realistic possibilities for a Norwegian direct ticket to the EC. Solbakken praises the way the players rallied after the setback before the match against Cyprus. Martin Ødegaard is singled out as particularly important, and he is described as “a mental coach” for his teammates. – Often, make no mistake about it, it is the best players who are hit the hardest, and Martin is one of them. He is one of those who were the furthest down after the match. That’s why there is also great respect for being able to both do this type of battle, but also get the others involved in the war in that way, says Solbakken. – The work the players did among themselves, that of collecting after such a thing in such a short time, where they also have to recover well, too. It is very difficult, and they should have all the credit for that, praises the national team manager. Where many of his teammates were far down, Ola Solbakken tried to think differently. For him, the cold shower was easier to accept because Norway should have won. – There is an extreme “go” in the group. If we had felt inferior to the opponent, it might have been something else. When we feel that we have really been at the height or better than everyone else, we cannot lie down and die. And we will not do it until it is completely over, says Ola Solbakken to news. Herjet Norway captain Ødegaard was not only absolutely central in the days between the games. When the match against Cyprus was kicked off, he was the one who took hold and showed the way. The Arsenal star danced around with the ball, dictating the game, hitting cheeky sticks and pulling some great tunnels. After him ran the helpless Cypriots, who could not find the formula for how to stop Norway’s midfield elegantly: “Simply in a class of its own, a pleasure to watch”, summed up news’s football expert Kristoffer Løkberg on the stock exchange about the Norwegian players’ performances. – I think I’m doing a pretty good match. Goes out and grabs it, and creates a number of chances. I should have had a couple of extra assists there, but it was ok, that, says Ødegaard to news. Several have pointed out that the 24-year-old scores fewer goals for Norway than the club team. This season there were a total of 15 goals and seven assists for Arsenal. For Norway, he had two goals and nine assists in 50 games before Tuesday’s game. Half an hour before the end, the tenth assist of his national team career came. Haaland’s stinger was the stroke, and this time the goal sneak was ice cold in front of the goal. – He is good. Especially in the first half, he gets into the space nicely. We have a good rotation between Patrick (Berg), (Fredrik) Aursnes and Martin in terms of when they come out, and what we failed to do against Scotland: Playing through them, says national team manager Ståle Solbakken.
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Cry after the collapse – Ødegaard took on the role of mental coach for his friends – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
