– Why have you not taken out Ohi Omoijuanfo, asked one of the Serbian reporters present when the national team manager sat on the podium at Rajko Mitic Stadium on Wednesday night.
The stadium houses the regular Red Star, which is the same club Omoijuanfo plays for after the transfer from Molde.
Solbakken came back with a contact answer to the reporter.
– Have you heard of Haaland? in Solbakken.
– Pardon? replied the reporter.
– Have you heard of Haaland? Solbakken repeated with a wide grin.
He was in the joking corner on Wednesday night, the Norwegian national team manager.
Got bomb dog questions
When Dagbladet wanted to know if the dog that was wandering around the stadium was a bomb dog brought in as a security measure around Haaland, he replied:
– It’s just Ellefsen’s dog, Solbakken joked with reference to the national team’s security manager Geir Ellefsen.
When NRK asked if we could repeat a question in Norwegian that had previously been asked in English at the press conference, this so that the answer would be used in Dagsrevyen, Solbakken replied:
– Do not the viewers of Dagsrevyen understand English? They are maybe over 90 years old, everyone who still watches Dagsrevyen, Solbakken flirted.
Will Norway come to the European Championships in 2024?
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Norway’s match against Serbia is the first in the next edition of the national league, which will be the first step towards the European Championships in 2024.
– For especially interested
The national team just met Serbia in the European Championship playoffs at Ullevaal in 2020 and lost 1-2, but Solbakken has not paid much attention to that match.
– We play in a different way, they play in a different way, we have a new coach, they have a new coach, we have new players, they have new players. It’s so far back in time too, and they have played 12-13 games under their new coach. It would have been very strange to see that match and dig down, I think that is too particularly interested, says the national team manager.
Solbakken disagrees with City star Kevin De Bruyne, who recently called the national league “glorified training matches”.
– We like that the concept replaces private matches. We are in a situation where we can use the national league right now. What Kevin De Bruyne questions is probably the number of matches, and you can of course put a big, big question mark after a long, long season, says Solbakken.
– For me it is completely gold, and I have been looking forward to these matches all season and knew I had to stay in shape and ready the last few months to play them, says Sander Berge.
Restraint on burglary
Berge was the only player in place at the press conference on Wednesday night. The midfielder recently fell victim to the growing trend of burglary against high-profile football players.
British police confirmed to the Yorkshire Post that they moved out after receiving a report that two masked burglars had entered a property, and these are said to have run away when the Norwegian midfielder returned home from training.
Berge did not want to spend so much time telling the press about the incident.
– I met no one. It happened while I was on my way home from training. Beyond that, I have nothing more to add. It’s past now and it’s over two weeks ago. That kind of thing happens and you move on from that, Berge says to NRK.
Sander Berge also demonstrated mental strength when he scored Sheffield United’s 1-2 goal in the play-off match against Nottingham Forest the next day.
– Does not belong there
Ståle Solbakken is aware that the 24-year-old is ready for a bigger club.
– With the danger of getting Sheffield United on his neck, I think it will be good for him to think about it. He does not belong in the Championship when physics and match fitness are in place, Solbakken believes.
Berge is not interested in talking about the club’s future now.
– I probably choose not to share that here when we are facing four big matches. My agents, me and the club will take care of that. I have had a good development in Sheffield United lately and come back where I was, so we will see what the future brings, he says to NRK.
Norway’s national team for men participated in the playoffs last time in 2000, with Ståle Solbakken in the squad. Since then, it has ended in disappointment in eleven European Championship and World Cup qualifiers in a row.
A Serbian journalist asked Solbakken if he could break such a sad series of qualifiers.
– That’s the plan.
The match between Serbia and Norway starts at 20.45 at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, and you can, as always, listen to the match on NRK Sport on the radio.
Will Norway come to the European Championships in 2024?
