Norway – Spain, at 20:45 Sunday
LARNACA (Dagbladet): A week in the sun and heat is good for most people. On Thursday, Norway played an EC qualifier against Cyprus and won 4-0.
Solbakken and the coaching team flew to Larnaca last Saturday. At the Radisson Beach Resort, everything was ready for a bit of self-training between the strokes.
But long jogs along the seafront no longer work for the national team coach.
ACTIVE: – I cycle and train strength, says Ståle Solbakken. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Show more
– I can’t run. If I am going to run again, I will have to have a knee prosthesis (artificial part). I do alternative training. I can run a little uphill. Otherwise, I cycle and do strength training.
– Is it boring not being able to take a morning walk?
– Yes very.
Dagbladet meets Solbakken at the poolside.
For anyone who follows the national team, it is easy to see that he is not going completely smoothly. It was this summer that he opened up in the TV 2 program “Footballpunch”.
BIG MATCH AWAITS: Ståle Solbakken and Norway beat Cyprus 4-0. On Sunday, Spain awaits Ullevaal. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Show more
After a cardiac arrest and the end of his career in 2001, jogging became an important part of life. Feeling that the body was working again – without the pacemaker kicking in – was about a sense of freedom.
– I was able to push my body to the maximum over a long period of time. The pacemaker did not respond to it. I didn’t tell anyone. But I felt that I was in the process of winning back my body, Solbakken tells the programme.
It was during training as a player in FC Copenhagen that the heart stopped for seven minutes. Afterwards, he underwent surgery to insert a defibrillator. The pacemaker has struck once – in 2009.
SIX DAYS: Ståle Solbakken was in Larnaca from Saturday to Friday. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Show more
But for the past two years, Solbakken has struggled with his knees. There is neither meniscus nor cartilage left. He agrees that the knee prosthesis must be operated on at some point anyway.
– The doctor had two messages. One was that he praised me for having a very high pain threshold. And then he said that he unfortunately had to disappoint me with his knee, because there was nothing to do with it, says Solbakken to “Fotballpunch”.
So now a half prosthesis – as he calls it – is the solution.
Training is a passion you naturally don’t want to let go of. When you move among top-trained footballers, it’s easy to get inspired. In recent days, there has been a lot of Norwegian muscle by the pool in Larnaca.
GOES OFF: The crowd was clear when they saw Erling Braut Haaland go off the pitch. Reporter: Birthe Skingen Show more
But on Sunday, it is Spain at Ullevaal that counts. The team landed at Gardermoen on Friday evening after the Cyprus victory. Now is the big exam.
The EC qualifiers have basically been run. But for Solbakken, it is important to see progress.
– I think we have made great progress. Then it will always be the case that when the qualification is not successful, the discussion comes. I think everyone can see that we’ve moved quite a bit. I think the players love the way we do it – both on and off the pitch, he points out.
– After all, we have beaten some nations above us for the first time since 2014 in the Nations League (Sweden and Serbia). Now we get the chance against Spain – to show that we can beat another team.
IN FOCUS: Erling Braut Haaland adorns the front page of AS Sunday. – Haaland is the last obstacle, writes the Spanish newspaper. view more
But Solbakken acknowledges:
– It is a results industry. It’s not like I’m saying: “You’re fantastic, Ståle.” I was reasonably confident that we would manage this. You can’t be so sure now.
The two best teams in the group go to the EC play-offs in Germany next summer. Scotland and Spain are in the driver’s seat.
For Norway, a lot was destroyed within five minutes against Scotland in June. 1-0 became 1-2 after horrible defensive errors.
– Everything was in order and we had full control. Out of nowhere they scored. It was horrible. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, says Solbakken.
DEPPER: Leo Skiri Østigård was not high on his hat after the 2-1 loss to Scotland in June. The defense was not patent in that game, to put it mildly. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Show more
– There are many people who complain about the changes we made against Scotland. But it has nothing to do with these.
He took out three players in the 84th minute – Erling Braut Haaland, Patrick Berg and Fredrik Aursnes.
– We had to make the changes. I would do it all over again. Everything else is just nonsense and hindsight. When people can’t run or walk, it doesn’t matter if it’s Erling or Patrick. Both had to get out.
Solbakken nevertheless acknowledges that he did not do everything right against Scotland.
– I wasn’t good when it was 1-1. We couldn’t keep our composure. There was a kind of desperation to go up and score. If we had kept our composure, we could have got 1-1. And maybe we could have scored.
PASSIAR: The coach has a chat with football expert Jesper Mathisen (tv) at AEK Arena in Larnaca. Midfielder Kristoffer Ajer is listening. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Show more
Although there will always be ripples around a national team, Solbakken is apparently safe.
The team gets a lot of “free attention” as a result of the interest surrounding Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard.
– Is it unreal to have two world stars on the team?
– Yes, it is. We have been a bit unlucky with Erling. In the first qualifier (for the Qatar WC) he played half of the matches. Two of them were against Gibraltar, which we would probably have beaten regardless of him. Then he was involved in all the games in the Nations League. In this qualifier, he was injured before the matches against Spain and Georgia. But he has delivered strongly when he has been involved.
CLEAR: Bernt Hulsker likes the pictures he gets to see of the national team. Video: Bård Sørø, Dagbladet TV-sporten Show more
Against Cyprus there were two goals. The first was world class.
– Do you have any insight into his life in Manchester?
– I think he lives like other footballers. There is a lot of exercise, rest and sleep. There will probably be a little extra control the night he decides to have a pizza. But it seems that he lives well with it.
SATISFIED: This is what Martin Ødegaard says after the 4-0 victory over Cyprus. Video: Bård Sørø Olsen/Dagbladet TV-sporten Show more
Ødegaard is the team’s second world star. The fact that he is in love with the “Shall we dance” profile Helene Spilling creates interest.
– I don’t think there has been that much control. Martin is very calm and balanced. I haven’t talked to him much about it. But to me it seems like this is level.
– Do you follow the “circus” off the pitch?
– It is impossible not to be confronted with it, or to be asked questions about it. But it’s not something I spend calories on.
Spanish profile reacts
Solbakken has a contract until 2025. Should Norway qualify for the WC in the USA, Canada and Mexico the following year, he will naturally get this.
He insists that it is gross personal mistakes that have caused trouble for Norway in the qualifiers.
But he acknowledges:
– It can fall back on me, where my principles for zone defense are too advanced. I don’t think so, because we master it for the most part. But then it is perhaps the case that the players – when they get tired in the head or legs – make bigger mistakes in this system than they do in everyday life.
DOESN’T GET COMPLETELY USED TO IT: Ståle Solbakken acknowledges that the rhythm as a national team coach is special. Here during a press conference on Friday. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Show more
After the Spain game, there will be a long break. Norway meets the Faroe Islands in a private international match on 16 November. Three days later, Scotland awaits in the last match in the European Championship qualifiers.
– You have been a club coach where there are new matches every week. Do you ever get used to the rhythm of being a national team manager?
– More and more. But I don’t think I’ll ever turn completely to those things here, says Solbakken and smiles.
On Sunday, Spain awaits an Ullevaal that will cook in the floodlight. Then it’s probably not so bad to be a national team coach either.
Ståle Solbakken
Born: 27 September 1968.Occupation: National football coach.Marital status: Married to Anniken, three children.Clubs that coach: FC Copenhagen, Wolverhampton, Köln and HamKam.Clubs that play: FC Copenhagen, Aalborg, Wimbledon, Lillestrøm, HamKam and Horrible. view more
2023-10-15 07:02:16
#run #Ill #prosthesis
