ISTANBUL (VG) (Turkey-Norway 1-1) Kristian Thorstvedt (22) secured an extremely important point that makes Norway in the World Cup with a victory in the last three matches. Afterwards, the Siddis incited 24,000 angry Turks.
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– The Turks drove and fired up the audience before the match with the same as I did there. I thought I should take back a little, a little humor. It’s just to get home as quickly as possible, says Thorstvedt to licensee TV 2.
Solbakken surprised many by putting the Stavanger guy as a striker from the start, but the national team manager had the plan ready several days in advance. Solbakken informs VG that he drilled Thorstvedt as a striker in the two training sessions the team had together before the match.
– I was not shocked. I mean, there’s a position I can play. There were many long balls. I had to fight with the stoppers, but I think it went well, Thorstvedt says to VG.
1 of 3Photo: Bjorn Steinar Delebekk
– Went into their trap
Kerem Aktürkoglu (22) took advantage of an ugly defensive error by Andreas Hanche-Olsen (24) and gave Turkey the lead after just five minutes. In front of a loud home crowd at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Cengiz Ünder (24) and the other Turkish players continued to drive across Norway initially.
In the minutes that followed, the Norwegian players struggled to get to grips, which they managed a quarter of an hour into the match. Led by a sparkling Patrick Berg (23) and a heroic effort from the other Norwegians, Norway appeared as the team Ståle Solbakken wanted to see.
– We went straight into their trap. We knew they would start at a fast pace. We make stupid mistakes at the beginning of both rounds, says Solbakken here in Turkey after the match.
– We get into trouble. For the first ten minutes we are naive and stupid, and do a lot of mistakes and a lot of weird things. Especially low in the field. We give away a goal, but fight back. It shows mentality and strength, says Martin Ødegaard to TV 2.
Successful set piece move
Before the gathering, the national team manager hired dead ball expert Bernardo Cueva. Four minutes before the break, it paid off. Martin Ødegaard hit a corner card to Jens Petter Hauge, who found the hair of Marcus Holmgren Pedersen. In parallel, Thorstvedt snuck in behind the back of Zeki Celik and tapped in 1-1.
The result means that Norway is in the World Cup if they win the remaining matches against Montenegro (h), Latvia (h) and the Netherlands (b). The latter will be played in Rotterdam on 16 November.
– I am very, very happy if you take away the first 10 of the first half and the first five of the second half. Then we are the best team. It is very well done, especially when you come under, says Solbakken.
A 2nd place in the group provides a playoff opportunity, where three of 12 competing teams in March will also be ready for the World Cup. Norway is two points ahead of Turkey with three rounds left, but the Norwegian team will face the Netherlands away in the last match. It is basically an advantage for Turkey, who have finished their showdown against the orange-clad.
– We have to take nine points. Then we are ready if the opportunity arises, says Turkey coach Stefan Kuntz to VG when asked how he considers the opportunity to go to the World Cup.
Made the Turks cursed
After the goal, Thorstvedt ran in an arc before ending up in front of several thousand Turkish fans. With a clenched fist, the 22-year-old waved his arm at the supporters several times.
The gesture was received with bows, screams and shouts from the entire arena. From the stands, several objects came flying into the lawn. But Thorstvedt did not allow himself to be affected.
Instead, he turned his back on and celebrated his third national team goal in just seven games with the rest of his teammates.
– He was amazing. He bothers them all the time, says Solbakken about the goal scorer.
He was also very pleased with the team’s performance. At the same time, the national team manager believes that it will be difficult to get to the championship in Qatar.
– It’s quite difficult. If we win the last three matches, that’s fine. But we can also be number three here, says Solbakken.
– We know we have a good team. On a good day, we can beat everyone. Hope lives on. It’s pretty simple: We have to win the rest of the matches to take first place. We will try to do that, says Thorstvedt about the opportunities to go to the World Cup.
–Solbakken surprised
With 11 established players out with various injuries, Solbakken had to compose a starting lineup that would not normally get the chance together. Veton Berisha (27) was taken out in the original squad, but the Viking striker did not gain confidence from the kick-off in Istanbul.
Instead, Solbakken made an unexpected choice. He put Thorstvedt as midfielder, even though he holds a midfield role for Belgian Genk on a daily basis.
The move had similarities with former national team manager Per-Mathias Høgmos much talked about «gambling» in the decisive playoff match of the European Championship against Hungary in 2015. At that time, strikers Marcus Pedersen and Alexander Søderlund were sitting and freezing on the bench in Budapest, while midfielder Markus Henriksen, who is currently being targeted as a midfielder in Rosenborg, was used as a striker.
Everyone knows the outcome of the match: Norway completely failed, Hungary went to the European Championships and Høgmo had to leave the job as Norwegian national team manager at the beginning of the next qualification.
– Ståle lays his head on the guillotine. We have tried it before – against Hungary, claimed Kjetil Rekdal in VGTV studio when the news was confirmed.
– If you compare Henriksen as a football player with Thorstvedt, you are out driving, Solbakken countered to licensee TV 2 before the match.
After 90 minutes, the national team manager could see that he had succeeded.
1 of 3Photo: Bjorn Steinar Delebekk
The injury crisis of the times
In the prelude to this gathering, national team doctor Ola Sand stated that he never before experienced a similar injury situation. In the absence of types such as Erling Braut Haaland and Alexander Sørloth, Solbakken therefore mustered a different type of eleven.
But it was actually “only” three new players from the start compared to the line-up against Gibraltar in the previous match. Solbakken went for the following eleven:
Ørjan Nyland – Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, Stefan Strandberg (new), Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Birger Meling – Martin Ødegaard, Patrick Berg, Morten Thorsby (new) – Jens Petter Hauge (new), Kristian Thorstvedt and Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Turkey also had some heavy absences. Both Leicester stopper Çaglar Söyüncü, who scored in the 3-0 victory over Norway in March, and last year’s Liverpool defender Ozan Kabak (now in Norwich) were missing. Thus was also the newly hired coach Stefan Kuntz (58) forced to change.
