EC qualifier in Oslo, April 26, 1995 ==================================== Norway - Luxembourg 5-0 (3-0) Ullevaal Att: 15 124 1-0 Jahn Ivar Jakobsen (11) 2-0 Jan Åge Fjørtoft (12) 3-0 Harald Brattbakk (24) 4-0 Henning Berg (46) 5-0 Kjetil Rekdal (49) Referee: J Ferry, Northern Ireland. Yellow card: Øyvind Leonhardsen (17), Norway, Jeff Strasser (65), Frank Deville (68), Joel Groff (80), Luxembourg. Line-ups -------- Norway (3-5-2): Frode Grodås - Henning Berg (Alf-Inge Håland from 65.), Ronny Johnsen, Roger Nilsen - Gunnar Halle, Lars Bohinen (Ståle Solbakken from 36.), Kjetil Rekdal, Øyvind Leonhardsen, Jahn Ivar Jakobsen - Harald Brattbakk, Jan Åge Fjørtoft. Luxembourg (5-3-2): Paul Koch - Guy Hellers - Patrick Feyder, Jean Vanek, Jeff Strasser, Frank Deville - Jeff Saibene (Marc Lamborelle from 75.), Manuel Cardoni, Joel Groff - Luc Holtz (Dany Theis from 56.), Roby Langers. Match report ------------ After the snowy(!) weather in Oslo in the morning, it was to be a cold night at Ullevaal this time. However, the play of Norway was warming the 15k crowd. From the start the home side was in command, and after 12 mins the game was virtually over. By then, Norway had scored twice. First by Mini on the half volley afetr a flick-on by Halle and an excellent cross by Brattbakk. Then by the captain Fjørtoft, capitalising on a dreadful mix-up in the Luxembourg defense. The good play continued for another 15 minutes, and the visitiors were lucky to be only three goals down after half an hour. The third goal coming from Brattbakk, after a dubious on-side decision by the linesman, which left three(!) Norwegians free with only the goalkeeper to beat. Towards half-time, the Norwegian domination slightly faded, but Luxembourg never looked likely to score a goal. In fact the closest they came was when a Grodås clearance hit Berg in the back, and went straight to a Luxembourg player. Fortunately, his shot went wide. All in all, it was a very enjoyable first 45 minutes, with the home side completely outplaying the very poor visitors with fast combination, pace, and play mostly along the ground(!), not too common for the Norwegian national side. The second half started as the first, with two quick goals, evenn quicker than in the first half. First, Fjørtoft backheeled a mis-kicked corner, straight to Berg, who hardly could miss from 1 meters out. Then Rekdal, Mini and Fjørtoft combined, and after the latter letting the ball go through his legs, Rekdal had a free shot at goal, which he didn't miss. 5-0 and still almost 40 minutes to go. Norway could really improve their goal difference if they could add a few more goals. Unfortunately, the play then gradually became less and less inspiring, and there wasn't to be any more goals. In the last 10 minutes Norway played with one man short, because of an injury to Halle, after both the substitutes had been brought on earlier after small injuries to Bohinen and Berg. Still, Luxembourg couldn't create that many chances, despite the Norwegians being more and more sloppy in defense. In this game Norway played in a much more adventurous 3-5-2 formation than they are used to. This was a great success, especially the partnership of Fjørtoft and Brattbakk up front proved a winning combination. What the Middlesbrough player lacks in speed, the domestic top scorer Brattbakk has plenty of, and on the other hand, the ability of Fjørtoft to hold on to the ball, and lay it off for others proved more important than ever. Hopefully, Drillo will stick with this formation against Malta (and perhaps even against the Czech Republic). In the other games in group 5 the results were: Czech Republic - Netherlands 3-1 Belarus - Malta 1-1 Table ----- 1.Norway 6 5 1 0 14- 1 16 2.Netherlands 6 3 2 1 15- 4 11 3.Czech Republic 5 3 2 0 13- 4 11 4.Belarus 5 1 1 3 5-10 4 5.Luxembourg 6 1 0 5 1-18 3 6.Malta 6 0 2 4 2-13 2 The result in Prague was the worst that could happen from a Norwegian point of view. A point for Netherlands, and Norway would almost certainly qualify by winning their last tow home games (against Malta and Czech Rep.). Now, they must get at least a point in one or both of the remaining away games as well, unless of course the Dutch or Czechs give away unexpected points in their matches agianst the "minnows". As these away games are in Prague and Rotterdam, this would be very difficult. We all remember the game in Rotterdam two years ago, when Norway was extremely lucky to get away with a 0-0 draw. And judging by the one hour summary of the Czeck-Netherlands game on Norwegian TV, playing in Prague is perhaps even more difficult. At least Netherlands were at times taken apart, and the scoreline in fact flattens the Dutch with the Czechs missing some really good chances.