New Jersey, June 23: Norway secured a thrilling 3-2 victory against Senegal on Tuesday, with striker Erling Haaland scoring two of the goals. Head coach Stale Solbakken praised Haaland’s performance and indicated that he would make some changes for the upcoming World Cup group match against France.
Haaland has been in exceptional form, netting four goals in Norway’s first two matches. He contributed two goals in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq on June 17, scoring at the 29th and 43rd minutes.
According to a report by Xinhua, Solbakken remarked after the match, “Today (against Senegal), he missed an easy chance to score, or else he could have added more goals. He is one of the best strikers in the world. He is not playing for France or Argentina; he is scoring for Norway.”
With Haaland’s goals at the 48th and 58th minutes, Norway took a 3-1 lead. However, Senegal managed to reduce the deficit, applying constant pressure on the European team in the closing moments of the match.
Solbakken described the last ten minutes as some of the longest of his life, as several players were struggling physically. He noted, “Four or five of our players suffered from cramps. For a while, we were effectively playing with just nine or ten players, and we had to make a goal-line clearance. It felt like a nightmare.”
The coach acknowledged that while Norway maintained control for most of the match, their grip loosened after Senegal narrowed the score to 3-2. He stated, “That was the only part of the game where I felt we lost control. We struggled to stop their crosses and were physically challenged.”
Despite the tense finish, Solbakken expressed satisfaction with Norway’s overall performance against Senegal, recognizing them as one of Africa’s strongest teams. He said, “If we had played even slightly worse, we could have been in trouble. We defeated a very good team with a lot of tournament experience.”
Norway will face France in their final Group I match on Friday. Both teams have won their opening two matches and secured their places in the knockout stage.
Solbakken confirmed that several players would be rested due to the physical toll of the match against Senegal. He explained, “We will make some changes for the match against France. This isn’t because we don’t want to win, but because we need to field a different team on the pitch.”
The coach noted that six or seven players were likely to suffer from cramps, and the tight travel schedule would complicate recovery. He added, “We have very little time to prepare, and the players were very fatigued by the end of this match. Some other players will also get a chance to play.”
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