The world eight against the world river, a wide-open match in advance. But the only thing that was wide open after kick-off was the Norwegian defense.
England completely humiliated Norway in the first half and went from 6-0. Already there, England had equaled the number of goals scored in a European Championship match.
Played with the Norwegian defense
England made the Norwegian defensive game look uninvolved and tired early on. 2-0 came after a pass through the penalty area to the far post, 3-0 after a lost ball from the last defender and 5-0 after Bethany Mead dribbled past several Norwegian defenders. Three goals that left a lot to be desired in the Norwegian defense.
– This is directly embarrassing. Not in my wildest imagination could I have imagined that this could be a scenario, says NRK’s commentator Andreas Stabrun Smith after the first half.
6-0 just before the break would not be the last goal either.
Biggest victory ever
England pressed on further in the second half, and even if Norway played more stable on the defensive, in the end 7-0 would come with 25 minutes left. A goal that meant that the match became historic. No team had previously done 7-0 in a European Championship match.
But, for Norway, the nightmare would continue for a while longer. England eventually won with a crushing 8-0, the biggest victory ever in a European Football Championship.
– You feel helpless. I suffer with the players. It’s hard to put into words. In addition to the first ten minutes, we are more or less run over. It is extremely tough, says Norwegian national team captain Martin Sjögren to SVT Sport.
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