Norway Coach Explains Decision to Change 10 Players Against France

Kathmandu. What could be the reason for Norway coach Stale Solbakken to change as many as 10 players before their World Cup Group 'I' match against France? Did he play to lose intentionally?

In fact, before the final group match, both teams had equal 6-6 points and both had secured a place in the top 32. France's acting coach Guy Stefan fielded a strong starting team including star players like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, and Michael Olise. But Norway's Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, and goalkeeper Orjan Nyland remained on the bench.

Before the match, fans and football analysts had already expressed their opinions on this decision. Former captain Roy Keane gave a balanced reaction, saying, 'This team is not yet accustomed to competitive football. The expectations of these two teams are also different. France is expected to win the World Cup.'

According to him, Norway's first priority was to pass the group stage, which it had already done. The coach probably thought, 'It will be very difficult to beat France, so let's rest the main players and prepare them for next week's knockout match. I can understand his thinking. Of course, you want to go into the field with a winning mentality, but you also have to look at the bigger picture.'

In the seventh minute of the match at the Boston Stadium, Ousmane Dembele gave France the lead. PSG forward Dembele added a second goal in the 20th minute. A minute later, Rangers' Thilo Asgaard scored a goal for Norway. But in the 32nd minute, Dembele completed his hat-trick, giving France a strong 3-1 lead.

In the 50th minute, Norway got a chance to come back into the game when Theo Hernandez fouled Oscar Bob in the penalty area. But Jorgen Strand Larsen's penalty kick was saved by France's goalkeeper Mike Maignan. In injury time, Doue scored the fourth goal with an attractive header, giving France a 4-1 victory.

Why might the loss to France be beneficial for Norway?

Although Solbakken's decision was criticized, the strategy of fielding a weaker team seems to have benefited Norway in the later stages of the tournament. France, the winner of Group 'I', will face Sweden and Norway will face Ivory Coast in the knockout stage.

Some have accused Norway of changing their first-choice 10 players to lose, as losing would benefit them. While Ivory Coast has talented players like Jean Dieomande, playing against the African team is considered relatively easier than playing against Sweden, which has stars like Anthony Elanga, Alexander Isak, and Viktor Gyokeres from the Premier League.

Sweden, coached by Graham Potter, reached the knockout stage based on their 5-1 victory over Tunisia and a 1-1 draw with Japan, despite losing 5-1 to the Netherlands in their second match. The match between Ivory Coast and Sweden will be held on June 30 in Arlington. On the same day, France will also play their top 32 match in New Jersey. If both teams manage to pass the top 32, France is likely to meet Germany in the round of 16.

Resting Erling Haaland against France was an 'easy decision': Norway's coach

It was not that Norway's team was changed to lose. Norway's coach Stale Solbakken's statement also shows this. Firstly, he did not need to win this match, and Norway had already secured a place in the knockout stage.

Due to many Norwegian players suffering from muscle cramps in the previous match, Solbakken prioritized the top 32 match over trying to win the group. He said, 'It was a very simple decision. After the Senegal match, we reviewed the team's condition. Five or six players were heavily affected. After 80 minutes, the entire defense and one or two midfielders were very tired. We knew that Norway had the least rest time after the Senegal match. We could have played well today, but our objective was to win. What would have been the situation for the next match if we couldn't win today? So there was no doubt about this decision. My opinion, the physio's, and the medical team's opinion was the same. Some players themselves said it was difficult for them to even train. The medical team did urine tests and gave me the report. So it didn't take much time to make this decision.'

Many fans spent thousands of dollars to see Haaland and Kylian Mbappe compete live in Boston. But Solbakken prioritized the long-term interests of the team over emotions. He said, 'The support was excellent. The fans wanted to see Erling and Martin. That was the only reason I had to think a little about today's team selection. But I hope this decision will give them more happy nights in the coming weeks.'

He said, 'I didn't want to go home without trying all possibilities. So it was a very easy decision. There was no need for any debate about it.'

On the other hand, France's assistant coach Guy Stefan said that becoming the group winner was important for his team's journey. After becoming the group winner, it will only take about a 45-minute flight to reach New York, while Norway will now have to travel about four hours to Dallas. Norway has only three days to rest before the top 32 match. This is analyzed to potentially benefit Ivory Coast, who reached the knockout stage by defeating Curacao on Thursday.

Regarding this, Solbakken said, 'Not now, because of what we did today. We have to consider all aspects like the least rest time between matches, travel, and hotel changes. Getting one day less rest was also one of the main reasons for today's decision.'

He also revealed that he had a plan to bring Haaland and Odegaard off the bench if necessary. 'If we saw a possibility of achieving our goal after the last hydration break, we had a plan to bring them onto the field,' he said.

Match statistics also do not show that they played to lose

Despite the 4-1 result, the match statistics show that the competition was relatively tough. France had 57 percent possession and nine of their 18 shots were on target. Five of Norway's 10 shots were on target. However, in terms of expected goals (xG), Norway (around 1.7) was ahead of France (around 1.3), indicating that they created more goal-scoring opportunities. The main difference in the game was France's excellent finishing and the impressive performance of goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Ousmane Dembele completed a hat-trick in the first half, while Maignan made some crucial saves, including a penalty from Jorgen Strand Larsen. Although Norway, fielding a second-choice team, appeared defensively weak in the first half, they improved in the second half. Nevertheless, the 4-1 result undoubtedly made France look much more dominant in the game; the result might not have been the same if Norway had fielded their first choice.