Friendly in Brussel, March 25, 1998 =================================== Belgium - Norway 2-2 (1-1) King Baudouin stadium Att: 13 371 1-0 Francky van der Elst (8) 1-1 Vidar Riseth (11) 2-1 Marc Wilmots (65) 2-2 Ole Gunnar Solskjær (70) Referee: Hans Weber, Germany. Yellow card: Tjorven De Brul, Belgium, Roar Strand, Norway. Line-ups -------- Belgium (4-4-1-1): Dany Verlinden - Eric Deflandre (Tjorven De Brul from 46.), Glen De Boeck (Philippe Clement from 81.), Eric Van Meir, Nico Van Kerckhoven - Gert Verheyen, Lorenzo Staelens, Franky Van der Elst, Danny Boffin (Philippe Leonard from 77.) - Marc Wilmots - Luis Oliveira (Mbo Mpenza from 77.) Norway (4-5-1): Thomas Gill - Gunnar Halle, Henning Berg, Erik Hoftun, Bent Skammelsrud - Vidar Riseth (Egil Østenstad from 81.), Roar Strand (Alf-Inge Håland from 68.), Erik Mykland (Trond Egil Soltvedt from 68.), Øyvind Leonhardsen, Håvard Flo (Ole Gunnar Solskjær from 46.) - Tore Andre Flo. Match report ------------ An entertaining game, and another creditable away draw against a WC participant. Norway started the brightest, but against the run of play Belgium took the lead with a rocket shot after a corner clearance. However, Norway almost immediately equalised when Riseth was sent through by Mykland, and rounded the goalkeeper before putting the ball into the empty net. The rest of the half was pretty even, though Belgium gradually started to take over. Though big opportunities were blown on either side. In the second half brought on Solskjær and switched to a 4-4-2 formation. It didn't help much as Belgium really started to dominate things as the Norwegian midfield was overplayed time after time. Eventually the home side took the lead when a long punt forwards was met by Wilmots, as both Gill an Berg hesitated. Usually a typical Norwegian goal, but not this time around. However, parity was restored just 5 minutes later, when Flo advanced and found a free Solskjær. He showed why he is a Goalscorer, with capital G, and slotted the ball under the approaching keeper. This was more or less Solskjær's only contribution to the game, but a very vital one. In the later stages Belgium once more created some good chances, and should have been awarded a penalty when Hoftun brought down M'Penza, but the referee waived play-on. All in all a draw was a fair result, as the number of chances for each team was evenly spread. What is worrying though, is that Norway now have conceded 5 goals in 2 matches, and they conceded only 2 goals during the whole WC qualification campaign. Ronny Johnsen and his speed is really missing in defense. Hoftun and Berg were often caught by faster Belgian forwards. Gill was tested in goal, and had a terrible game. Apart from the misunderstanding at the second goal, he had a couple of really badly timed attempted catches on crosses, and some lousy throw-outs which put his own defenders under pressure. Clearly the pressure got to him. Skammelsrud was constantly overplayed on the left back, though his positioning improved in the second half. In midfield, Riseth once again had a good game, whereas Leo and Strand were more mediocre. Up front Flo had a terrible first half, but showed in the second half with Solskjær as a second forward glimpses of excellent play, holding the ball up very well. Next game is against Denmark in late April. Expect new formations and new player combinations in that game also.