Norway in 'mission impossible', Haaland set to miss the third big tournament

We didn't see Erling Haaland at the last European Championship, we didn't see him at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and there is a high probability that we won't even be at the Old Continent Championship in 2024 in Germany. A lot depends on the match that Norway will play this week from 21:45 in Oslo against Spain as part of the 8th round of qualification. If the Norwegians do not overcome the current conqueror of the League of Nations, it will be Goodbye Europe. For the Vikings, only a win against Spain will do; a draw or a loss leaves them with no chance to beat Scotland in Glasgow in November. The Scots have a chance to confirm their place in Germany this week in Tbilisi against Georgia. For Haaland and his teammates, even the victories over Spain and Scotland do not guarantee the first two positions in the A group - if the Scots beat Georgia, they are safely above the line, the Red Fury has played a game less and has upcoming duels in Cyprus and with the Georgians at home. Those two victories guarantee her at least second place.

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Norway has only played at the European Championship once so far, in 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands, when they were eliminated in the group stage despite winning four points. In the previous qualifiers, the Norwegians were third in the group, again behind Spain and Sweden, and later Serbia eliminated them in the play-offs, which they won through the League of Nations. Haaland did not play much in those qualifications, only two matches. He missed four due to a knee injury. Admittedly, he was 19 years old at the time, and it was not even expected that he would be the leader of the national team. Against Serbia, he played all 120 minutes in the play-off, but he did not have any specific performance. In the qualifiers for the 2021 World Cup, Haaland should have done a little more, and in the first three rounds against the Netherlands, Latvia and Gibraltar, he was indeed a scorer. He scored a total of five goals. However, after that, he got injured again and missed the rest of the competition, and the Norwegians were again left without a place in the big competition.

In the current qualifiers, also due to injury, Haaland did not play in the first two rounds. Even then, the Norwegians recorded two crucial failures: they lost to Spain 3:0 and drew with Georgia in Tbilisi 1:1. The Manchester City striker returned to the team in June in the next window, but even his goal against Scotland was not enough to avoid defeat - 1:2. And because of those three games, Norway is now in an impossible mission. In the next three matches, the Vikings defeated the Cypriots twice with 3:1 and 4:0, and Georgia once with 2:1. In total, Haaland scored five goals in those matches, so no one can blame him for not trying hard in the national jersey.

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Overall, the strong centre-forward has played 27 games for the A national team of Norway and scored 27 goals. He cannot be blamed for how he "pumped up" the statistics against teams like Gibraltar or Cyprus because he also shook the nets of the Netherlands, Serbia (last year in the League of Nations), Austria, Romania, and Scotland... However, he was the most ruthless against Sweden in the League of Nations; he scored two goals twice in victories 2:1 and 3:2. Norway have played Spain twice since Haaland appeared on the big stage, but he missed both matches due to injury. The Red Fury will only now have the opportunity to meet him, which is why the topic of "how to stop one of the best strikers in the world" has been on the Iberian Peninsula for days.

"We all saw how dangerous Haaland can be in the penalty area. Any ball he touches in that area can be a goal, whether it's in the air, on the ground, on his left or right foot. He is a natural goalscorer. We will try to keep him away from the penalty area for as long as possible. When we fail to do so, it will be important to prevent the ball from reaching him," said the goalkeeper of the Spanish national team, Unai Simon.

Furia coach Luis de la Fuente also said that the key to success is stopping the Citizens' attacker.

"We will try to play as well as possible, it is important to be as concentrated as possible when the opponent attacks. Haaland is a specialist in dynamic attacks, but I am pleased that he will have to play against our stoppers now. They know how to cancel his characteristics, although we must not forget that it is not only Haaland who is their dangerous football player of Norway", De la Fuente said.