National team colleagues support Solbakken’s Normann refusal: – He will be responsible for it

– I think the national team handled it well, says Jens Petter Hauge. He is tight-lipped when asked what he thinks of Normann’s controversial club choice, but the Gent player is clear that he supports the way the Norwegian Football Association resolved it. – I think Ståle Solbakken and Lise Klaveness handled this very well. Ultimately, Mathias must make his own choices. I don’t really want to say much more than that, concludes Hauge. He is supported by Gent and national team colleague Andreas Hanche-Olsen: – It has been handled in a fine way. He will be responsible for it. FORMER COLLEAGUES: Mathias Normann and Andreas Hanche-Olsen. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – It’s not a choice you could have made? – No, it would not have been very relevant for me. As Jens says, it was handled in an OK way. It was probably something he was aware of when he made that choice, believes the defender. news has tried to get a comment on the case from both Mathias Normann and his father and adviser Sten Normann – so far without success. – Tone-deaf Ståle Solbakken also repeated the criticism of Normann’s club choice when he presented the national team squad on Monday. – I have answered that to many. It is a totally incomprehensible choice. He was given a clear hint of the consequence before he made the final decision. It is tone-deaf by him and his advisers. I have a great feeling for Mathias, but this is a target, said the national team manager. – Can you guarantee that you would have done the same with other players? – What you are really asking is whether I had done the same with Erling Braut Haaland? Yes, I would have done the same if Haaland had gone to Dynamo Moscow, Solbakken replied. At the press conference, it also became clear that Omar Elabdellaoui is back in the national team. The squad also contains two debutants at A national team level. The recent Celta Vigo pro Jørgen Strand Larsen and Molde player Ola Brynhildsen will also get the chance. See the entire squad: Goalkeepers Ørjan Håskjold Nyland André Hansen Sten Michael Grytebust Defense: Marcus Holmgren Pedersen Omar Elabdellaoui Julian Ryerson Birger Solberg Meling Fredrik André Bjørkan Stefan Strandberg Leo Skiri Østigård Andreas Hanche-Olsen Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer Stian Rode Gregersen Midfield: Patrick Berg Martin Ødegaard Sander Berge Morten Thorsby Fredrik Aursnes Mohamed Elyounoussi Kristian Thorstvedt Mats Møller Dæhli Attack: Ola Brynhildsen Alexander Sørloth Erling Braut Haaland Joshua King Jørgen Strand Larsen OUTLINE: The national team will face Slovenia away on September 24 and Serbia at home three days later in the national league. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Prepared for reactions Normann made headlines when he signed for Dynamo Moscow last week. National team manager Ståle Solbakken and football president Lise Klaveness were quick to say that the decision made him irrelevant for national team games. – Basically, it is not the association’s role to say anything about national team players’ choice of club, but we are now in an extraordinary situation. All of Norwegian and European football agree to put joint pressure on Russia as a belligerent party, which has also used positions of power in sport very actively, Klaveness said in a press release. Normann himself has not broken his silence after the transfer became known, but has spoken to TV 2 ahead of the announcement. – If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career, it’s that you don’t mix politics and football. I’m going there to play football and I’m “happy” about that, said the 26-year-old, who was clear that he was prepared for reactions. STOP THE WAR: Mathias Normann, far left in the picture, has taken part in demonstrations in support of Ukraine. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – A very nice guy Lillestrøm striker Thomas Lehne Olsen himself took a slightly controversial career step when he left Norway in favor of Shabab Al-Ahli Club in Dubai last year. He will not condemn Normann’s choice. – People can do what they want. I know Mathias a bit from the national team, and he is a very nice guy. – Could you go to Russian football yourself, as the situation is now? NATIONAL TEAM CHANCE: Lehne Olsen made his Norway debut last autumn. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – Absolutely not. With everything that’s happening there, it wouldn’t have been relevant at all, replies LSK’s returning target snitch. He is nevertheless clear that he stands for the choice he made himself. – There’s a lot of bad things happening in Dubai too, but now it’s like that, and I stand by that choice, he concludes.



ttn-69