In spite of the fact that they were aware of what they wanted to do and worked very hard, Norway was unable to produce a more consistent and dignified outcome against Spain. The Northern European representative gave up their bid to compete in the Euro 2024 qualifiers after suffering a loss at home by a score of 0-1.
The final score was 0-1 for Spain over Norway.
Gavi has the score at 49′.
Erling Haaland, who is known as the best “goal-scoring machine” in the world at the moment, plays for Norway, and he is the best “No. 10” midfielder in the Premier League. Norway has every reason to be confident in their ability to contend for one of the two spots in the EURO finals in 2024. But in the end, neither of those players was able to “carry the team” to victory in the competition against Spain and Scotland. Spain won, and Scotland came in third.
As a result, Norway’s chances of qualifying for Euro 2024 are, up to the final two matches, essentially purely theoretical at this point. But they still need to keep battling in order to establish their “national colors” and demonstrate that they are deserving of respect. When facing a formidable adversary like Spain, it is apparent that head coach Solbakken will need to play his finest cards. Without a doubt, the pairing of Odegaard and Haaland will be the most remarkable of these cards.
The first leg of the match was a defeat for Norway, with a score of 0-3, however the Nordic “lion” did not have Haaland’s services owing to an injury. This time, the superstar who is donning the Man City shirt is in tip-top shape and has the same motivation as his other teammates: vengeance. A few days earlier, Haaland scored twice as they defeated Cyprus by a score of 4-0.
While everything was going on, Spain defeated Scotland by a score of 2-0 and continued on to Norway. In comparison to the previous game, head coach Luis de la Fuente made three changes to the starting lineup, which were spread across all three lines. Real Madrid defender Fran Garcia, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabian Ruiz, and Brighton striker Ansu Fati, who is currently on loan from Barcelona, took the places of Balde, Merino, and Oyarzabal, respectively.
Gavi scored the only goal for Spain
The Spanish away team did not enter the match at a fast pace but still completely overwhelmed the home team Norway. However, it wasn’t until the 20th minute that La Roja created its first notable situation. Dani Carvajal hung the ball in the middle of the penalty area and in an attempt to prevent Ansu Fati from receiving the ball, Strandberg accidentally “kicked” it into his own net. To consolidate the goal, Morata rushed to connect the ball right in front of the goal line.
But that decision caused Spain to lose the opening goal because after consulting VAR, the referee determined that Morata was… offside. After the missed goal, Spain continued to dominate the game but could not create many truly dangerous opportunities for Norway’s goal..
On the opposite side, the home team did not have any impressive attacks and Haaland was almost harmless because this striker only maximized his ability if he received a lot of balls. Here, he was almost isolated from his teammates. team when Spain understands very well what needs to be done to control the opponent’s strength. On the rare occasion of being able to swing his leg to finish, Haaland was blocked by his former teammate at Man City, midfielder Laporte (now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr, the team that Cristiano Ronaldo is playing for).
But at the beginning of the second half, the match finally had a goal. After an extremely chaotic situation in the Norwegian penalty area, midfielder Gavi had a low shot that hit the Norwegian net. It took nearly 5 minutes for the VAR team to carefully analyze to avoid maximum errors before the referee recognized the goal.
Haaland was helpless throughout the entire match
Being behind, Norway has no other choice but to find a way to push the team to attack because if they lose this match, they will officially be eliminated. In the 63rd minute, the ball was waved long into the Spanish penalty area and Haaland created a wall for Odegaard to finish, but due to a poor contact point, the ball did not fly as the Arsenal midfielder wanted.
But there aren’t many opportunities to score like that because Spain simply doesn’t have to look “ordinary” but let Norway “go wild on its own”. At the end of the match, Haaland had a one-touch cut and finish after a cross from Sorloth’s left wing but it was not difficult enough to defeat Unai Simon.
Right after that, Ostigard saved Norway from losing ten goals when he cleared the ball on the goal line after Morata’s delicate shot. Even though the extra time was up to 8 minutes, Norway could not do anything.
In the end, Norway received a 0-1 defeat, thereby officially ending their chance to win a direct ticket to the Euro 2024 finals. While the victory brought the Spaniards to Germany and Scotland, they were also happy because of the remaining spots. of Group A to the region’s No. 1 football festival belongs to them.
NORWAY VS SPAIN TEAM
NA UY (4-2-3-1): Orjan Nyland; Julian Ryerson, Stefan Strandberg (Ajer 77′), Leo Ostigard, Birger Meling; Patrick Berg (Nusa 58′), Sander Berge; Oscar Bobb (Sorloth 59′), Martin Odegaard, Fredrik Aursnes (Thorstvedt 77′); Erling Haaland.
Spain (4-3-3): Unai Simon; Daniel Carvajal, Robin Le Normand (David García 46′), Aymeric Laporte, Fran Garcia; Gavi (Sancet 79′), Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Ferran Torres (Pedraza 71′), Alvaro Morata (Joselu 88′), Ansu Fati (Oyarzabal 46′).