Norway pin hopes on Haaland against Brazil in World Cup last 16
Haaland’s late winner against Ivory Coast – his fifth goal of the tournament – secured Norway’s first victory in a World Cup qualifying match and marked a memorable return to the global stage after a 28-year absence.
They now hope to repeat their famous group stage victory over five-time world champions Brazil in 1998 and secure a place in the quarter-finals.
Haaland may have rated Norway’s chances of beating Brazil as “very small” but history encourages that.
The Norwegians have never lost to the Selecao in their previous four encounters, with two wins and two draws.
Coach Stale Solbakken was a midfielder in the squad when Norway beat Brazil 2-1 to reach the knockout stage before reaching the last 16 almost 30 years ago.
“Brazil are favourites, of course they are, but we are hopeful that we will give them a game and we are not playing the game for fun; we are playing to win the game and reach the quarter-finals,” Solbakken said. “It’s possible, but very difficult.”
But Solbakken believes he has the “greatest striker in the world” at his disposal in Haaland. The Manchester City star has scored in each of his last 13 international competitions, netting 25 goals during that run.
Norway captain Martin Odegaard said: “It’s great to have him in the team, we’re lucky to have him and the important thing is to give him as many opportunities as possible.” he said.
Brazil has its own trump card in Vinicius Junior, whose four goals in the tournament made him the team’s top scorer and most effective player.
– ‘We can stop anyone’ –
He became the first Brazilian to score in all three matches in the group stage of the World Cup after Ronaldo and Rivaldo in 2002. This was the last time Brazil lifted the trophy.
Joking that his team would be formed with a “7-3-0” formation, Solbakken said, “I think every team should set up their team correctly and try to stop him.”
“It’s not easy. You’ve seen it in the World Cup so far. We’ll try to do our best.”
Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland is aware of the damage Vinicius, who has spent the last three seasons with Sevilla in La Liga, can do.
Although he had every reason to believe the team could beat Brazil, he cited a strong qualifying run as evidence.
“Because of what we’ve done in the last two or three years and what we’ve accomplished so far … we know we can stop anybody,” Nyland, 35, said.
Brazil hope Carlo Ancelotti’s proven track record will take them to the top.
Brazil needed an injury-time winner from Gabriel Martinelli to defeat Japan in the last 32 as they made their first comeback in World Cup qualifying since a 2-1 win against England in 2002.
“Ancelotti is a larger-than-life man,” Martinelli said. “He gave us confidence at halftime, said we would score a goal and come back. It didn’t matter when the goal would be scored. We felt his calmness. This relieved us.”
Having failed to beat a European opponent in the knockout stages in each of the last five World Cups, Brazil must overcome another obstacle it has encountered recently.
They lost to Croatia on penalties in the 2022 quarter-finals.
Matheus Cunha said Brazil devoted “a large part” of their training to preparations against Norway’s air threat, but warned that focusing solely on Haaland would be a mistake.
“I think we should concentrate not only on him but also on many Norwegian players,” the Manchester United striker said.
“They have a very strong physical presence throughout the team.”
It was stated that Lucas Paqueta will not be able to play due to his hamstring injury, but Raphinha will be able to play after returning to training on Friday.
Barcelona’s winger missed the last two matches due to a hip injury sustained in Brazil’s second leg.
