EC qualifier in Oslo, June 7, 1995 ================================== Norway - Malta 2-0 (1-0) Ullevaal Att: 15 180 1-0 Jan Åge Fjørtoft (43) 2-0 Jostein Flo (88) Referee: Z Przesmycki, Poland. Yellow card: Richard Bughagiar, Malta. Line-ups -------- Norway (4-5-1); Erik Thorstvedt - Henning Berg, Ronny Johnsen, Alf-Inge Håland, Roger Nilsen (Harald Brattbakk from 70)- Jostein Flo, Erik Mykland, Kjetil Rekdal (Kåre Ingebrigtsen from 83.), Ståle Solbakken, Jahn Ivar Jakobsen - Jan Åge Fjørtoft. Malta (4-5-1): David Cluett - Richard Buhagiar (Edwin Camilleri from 76.), Lawrence Attard, John Buttigieg (Nicholas Saliba from 28.), Michael Woods - Silvio Vella, Carmel Busuttil, Kristian Laferla, Joseph Sant Fournier, David Carabott - Gilbert Agius. Other matches in group 5 ------------------------ Belarus - Netherlands 1 - 0 Luxembourg - Czech Republic 1 - 0 Norway 7 6 1 0 16 - 1 19 Netherlands 7 3 2 2 15 - 5 11 Czech Republic 6 3 2 1 13 - 5 11 Belarus 6 2 1 3 6 - 10 7 Luxembourg 7 2 0 5 2 - 18 6 Malta 7 0 2 5 2 - 15 2 Match report ------------ Another memorable evening at Ullevaal. Not so much because of what happened on the field in Oslo, but because of what happened in Minsk and Luxembourg. With the shocking defeats of both the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, the road to Euro'96 is probably looking a lot more easy for Norway. Now, "only" two more points will secure 2nd place, and a win in one of the matches against the Czechs will in fact secure 1st place. In addition, several other combinations of results could see us through as well. Theoretically, Norway could already qualify with a home win against the Czechs in August. The match itself against the Maltese wasn't much to shout about. As expected it was one-way traffic for 90 minutes, but the combination of a stubborn Malta defense and an unimaginative Norway held the score down. In fact, the opening goal didn't come until 2 minutes before the break, when Fjortoft cooly chipped the goalkeeper from 5 meters out, after the ball had been flicked on by Solbakken. Earlier in the half, both Mini and Flo had come close to scoring, and Mykland had hit the crossbar with a delicate lob. In the second half the pattern continued, but the chances were fewer. Too many balls were just aimed at Flo, who almost played as a second striker for most of the game. However, the variety in the Norwegian play was nonexistent, and as the Maltese rarely threatened at the break (did they have a shot at goal?), the match became rather boring and uninteresting. It was only liven up by the second Norwegian goal, a thunderbolt of a shot from Flo from just outside the area. All in all, not the best of performances. In fact it was one of the worst this season. But still, Norway do keep on winning against the lesser nations, in contrast to some other countries around... Of the players, Flo had a good game, fighting in the air for 90 minutes, but scoring with his foot :-) Johnsen at the back, Solbakken in midfield and Fjortoft up front were also influential. That can't be said about Berg, who looked very jaded after a long season. The same can be said about Rekdal, who looked even slower than he usually is :-) I expect Solbakken to replace him from start in the friendly against France in July.