Friendly in Molde, May 27, 1998 =============================== Norway - Saudi-Arabia 6-0 (3-0) Nye Molde stadion Att: 13.114 1-0 Kjetil Rekdal (pen. 21) 2-0 Ole Gunnar Solskjær (31) 3-0 Solskjær (42) 4-0 Egil Østenstad (83) 5-0 Tore André Flo (87) 6-0 Roar Strand (88) Referee: Knud Erik Fisker, Denmark. Yellow card: Sami Al-Jaber (10), Khalid Mas'ad Al-Muwalid (18), Hussein Solaimani (85), Saudi-Arabia, Håvard Flo (29), Norway. Red card: Mohammed Al-Daeya (18), Mohammed Al-Khlawi (35), Saudi-Arabia. Line-ups -------- Norway (4-5-1): Frode Grodås - Alf-Inge Håland, Dan Eggen (Erik Hoftun from 46.), Ronny Johnsen (Henning Berg from 90.), Stig Inge Bjørnebye - Håvard Flo (Egil Østenstad from 78.), Vidar Riseth, Kjetil Rekdal, Erik Mykland (Roar Strand from 57.), Ole Gunnar Solskjær - Tore André Flo. Saudi-Arabia (4-4-2): Mohammed Al-Daeya - Mohammed Shilia Al-Jahni (Ahmed Doukhi Al-Dossary from 46.), Mohammed Al-Khlawi, Abdulla Zebramawi, Hussein Soleimani - Ibrahim Sweid Al-Shahrani (Khamis Al-Zahrani from 63.), Nawaf Al- Temiyat (Hamzah Saleh from 46.), Khamis Al-Owairan, Khalid Mas'ad Al-Muwalid - Sami Al-Jaber (Hussein Al-Sadiq from 20.), Sayeed Al-Owairan (Fahad Al-Mehallel fra 72.). Match report ------------ A game, which was suppose to be a friendly between two nations preparing for the World Cup, was instead ruined by a far too strict Danish referee. First, he sent off the Saudi-Arabian goalkeeper, after he dragged down Solskjær in the penalty area as a consequence of a bad clearance. Though, there were strong suspicions of handball (twice?) by the Norwegian attacker, so the taking of the penalty had to be delayed for several minutes due to the strong protests. Also, even though the goal keeper did foul Solskjær, a yellow card would have been sufficient in my opinion, as there were a couple of defenders rushing back at the time. Eventually Rekdal stepped up and scored with ease. Some ten minutes later, Mykland sent Solskjær through in the middle, and he finished the nice move off with a typical striker finish, a fierce shot unstoppable by the new Saudi goal keeper. A few minutes later, the Saudi frustration showed, and again, Solskjær ws in the heat of the action. He was subjected to a late, sliding two-footed tackle from behind by the Saudi defender Al-Khlawi. This time , the referee did the right think, and sent the culprit off straight away. Expect to see more of the same in the upcoming World Cup. After these events, the game was over as a contest. Norway played around at their will for the rest of the game, against nine opponents. The home team added a third just before half time, when Solskjær picked up a rebound after a lob by Flo had hit the woodwork. In the second half, things got even less interesting, and only the introduction of Østenstad added some much needed spice to the Norwegian play. In just over 7 minutes he was responsible for three goals, first scoring himself on a nice through ball, then setting up Flo and Strand for the fifth and sixth. With this win, Norway are now unbeaten in 14 matches, and they are also unbeaten at home in 27 matches, almost 7 years. Quite a record going into the World Cup, though it will of course not count for anything once there. WC squad -------- The day after, the Norwegian World Cup squad was announced. As usual, Drillo did come up with a couple of surprises. Of the 20 players selected for the last two friendlies, 18 were given a green light. However, two players were, rather surprisingly, axed; Petter Rudi and Alfi Haaland. Rudi would have been selected if he hadn't picked up an injury in the days leading up to the Saudi game. Though, he would have been ready for the World Cup. Haaland lost out in the battle against Halle for the right back position, as Halle is more versatile. Both players were very disappointed, and Rudi said he had now lost his faith in Drillo. Four new players were added to make up the numbers. These were, goal keeper Espen Baardsen, young prospect Vegard Heggem (despite lack of match practice lately), and the old timers, "Mini" Jakobsen and Jostein Flo. Thus, the 22 Norwegian players in France are: 1 Frode Grodås 12 Thomas Myhre 13 Espen Baardsen 4 Henning Berg 5 Stig Inge Bjørnebye 15 Dan Eggen 2 Gunnar Halle 14 Vegard Heggem 19 Erik Hoftun 3 Ronny Johnsen 16 Jostein Flo 17 Håvard Flo 9 Tore André Flo 11 Jahn Ivar Jakobsen 8 Øyvind Leonhardsen 7 Erik Mykland 10 Kjetil Rekdal 21 Vidar Riseth 6 Ståle Solbakken 20 Ole Gunnar Solskjær 22 Roar Strand 18 Egil Østenstad Let's hope they will do well in France. A place in the second round is the first goal, and from then on anything can happen.