PROBABLY very few football fans and punters expected that Norway would go this far in the ongoing Fifa World Cup, due to its lack of tangible history in this competition.
However, it has become history that Norway advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since it started participating in this competition by defeating Brazil 2-1 on Sunday, New York Jersey Stadium, New Jersey, USA.
The two goals scored by the striker of this team, Erling Haaland, ensured that Norway booked a place in the quarterfinals where they will face England on Saturday, at 11 pm, at Miami Stadium, Miami.
The Vikings, who last played in the World Cup in 1998, in France, where they came out of the Last 16, their progress has turned them into one of the teams that may surprise in this tournament when they were not watched by anyone.
“This is a good, united team. They like to be together, train well, help each other, support each other.
“We have a strong culture, we give people the opportunity to be themselves and say what they want.
“Which is the most important thing whether things go well or not,” said Norway’s coach, Stale Solbakken, quoted byESPN.
“I think this is a good time to be a Norway fan, even better than being a coach.”
Solbakken (58), who was a player in Norway last played in the World Cup in 1998, has already made history as the first coach in the history of this national team to lead it to the quarterfinals of this tournament.
He still has another chance to make another history if he can advance to the semi-finals or the final itself.
This team has stars including Martin Odegaard, Alexander Sorloth, Julian Ryerson and Haaland who is currently one of the leading scorers in the World Cup. They have the challenge of defeating The Three Lions in the quarterfinals, who have also shown signs of being a team that can go far in this competition.
World Cup Last 16 Matches:
Today – At 6pm:
Argentina in Egypt
At 10pm:
Switzerland v Colombia
Eyama-quarterfinal:
Thursday – 10pm:
France v Morocco
Saturday – 11pm:
Norway v England