– People must not lose it completely. That is the crystal-clear message from national team stopper Stefan Strandberg before Norway opens the EC qualifiers with two tough away games against Spain and Georgia on 25 and 28 March. Norway has a number of in-form players up front on the field, led by world stars Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, but at the back there are several experts who are shouting warning. The pair of stoppers who impressed under Ståle Solbakken’s leadership last year come to the matches with minimal match training. Stefan Strandberg has not played a meaningful game since mid-November. It’s been over four months without proper combat training with nerves and something at stake. Leo Østigård is barely better prepared than his partner. He has only booked one cup game (January 17) for Italy’s top team Napoli since mid-November. – Can teach them football But Stefan Strandberg dismisses that Ståle Solbakken and Norway have a custody problem before these international matches. – For long periods under Ståle, we have been Europe’s densest defence. It’s about the way Ståle’s team plays. People must remember that we have delivered good performances. I absolutely do not agree that it is as dark as everyone wants it to be, says Strandberg to news. And comes with a confident invitation: – If people are so negative, they can sit down with me and we can analyze a bit. Then I can teach them football, says Strandberg. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB – Who do you want to sit down with? – Anyone who slaughters the defensive game. They are welcome to talk to us as individual players, I have no problem with that. I’m not as good as Erling or Martin, no problem. But to say that it is so dark is completely wrong. All the statistics show that. Those who say otherwise have not seen us themselves, or they hang on to one or another howling chorus. It’s not a fact, it’s that simple, he believes. Hareide is positive news’s football expert Åge Hareide supports Strandberg that Solbakken’s way of defending can make up for a lack of playing time. When asked directly if he agrees that it looks “fragile”, the former Norway manager replies: – It may look that way, but I think the players are so drilled in how the team should play defense and zone defense in that four , that they must be effective even against a good opponent. There is a lot of talent in these boys, and it may be that the fact that people are skeptical makes them want to show what lives in them, says Hareide. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Joke about Strandberg six-pack National team manager Ståle Solbakken has himself been open that the defensive situation is not optimal. But when asked by news if he is worried, he replies: – We have lived with this since we took over this team, in periods there has been a lack of playing time, and at times our stoppers have played in other positions in the clubs. But we have also shown that, when we are at our best, we can be very good. At the press conference when Solbakken selected the squad for the upcoming international games, he joked that a combat-ready Strandberg is in such good physical shape that it is now “possible to see the lines on his stomach”. – Then he will be disappointed when he sees me now, Strandberg chuckles. But he confirms that he is in what he refers to as “good shape”. – The most important thing for me is to keep my body as healthy and fast as I can. Then I have shown over many years in the national team that I have delivered strong matches time after time. Hopefully I can do it again, says the VIF stopper. How many points will Norway take against Spain and Georgia? – Will be a good starting point Solbakken has previously relied mostly on Østigård and Strandberg as partners, but against Spain he will for the time being, at least not externally, decide who will start in Norway’s central defence. – It is open, we have to see the players in training, use our gut feeling and the trained eye to choose the right stopping combinations in both games, he says. Solbakken is prepared for it to be a dogfight for the points in Norway’s first two preliminary qualifying matches. – We start very tough, but if we get some points in these two matches, it looks all the brighter for the rest of the qualifiers. If we come away with at least three points, we will have a very good starting point, believes the national team manager. – It is clear that it is the toughest possible start we could get. There is no doubt about it. But we will try to get as much as possible from that collection. It is important, Strandberg asserts.
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