**This was a great battling win and all credit to Norway for taking it to the limit.**
I have a certain affection for Norwegians dating back to the 1960's when we had hundreds of Norwegian students in Sunderland and they'd drink pubs like the Star dry. They didn’t have to carry any women off in their longboats as the local females seemed more than happy to socialize with them. Tonight, of course, I'll be hoping that we get past them and into the semis. I didn't watch the Mexico game live but I could make a decent guess from the sound of drunks going past my window in the wee hours of Tuesday morning as to how the game had gone. We all know that Haaland will be their key threat but if you were at the Man City match on New Year's Day, you'll have seen how he can be nullified. It looks like Newcastle's Dan Burn may well be one of those assigned to do a job on him. (I’ll try not to think about Le Fee nutmegging him as he puts in a, hopefully, sterling performance.) They're by no means just a one-man team and apart from Odegaard, I liked the look of Bobb when he came on against Brazil. I have to say that I'm much more of a Sunderland fan than I am an England fan but the presence of Jordan Pickford adds a good deal of interest for me and if it does go to penalties, he’s a very good man to have. I'll be watching the game near London Bridge Station and I'm hoping other members of the SAFCSA London Branch will also be there with me. Match prediction: 2-1 to England but it may well go to extra-time.
I’d been warned to get to the venue early as even the standing places were limited so I got there around 7.45. Even with a big fan whirring away it was still roasting so I dreaded to think what it’d be like when it got full. I managed to get a small table at the back and the boss kindly arranged for a tall stool to go with it so I was all set to write my report as the game happened. I was wearing a Sunderland-themed T-shirt and a tipsy young West Ham fan came over and started chatting to me about footy and how we’d beaten them 3-0 in the first game of last season. She asked me to say something into her phone for reasons I didn’t understand, gave me a hug or two and went on her merry way. Such are the travails of being an ALS reporter.
I got the team-news around 9.00 and there were two changes from the Mexico game with Stones replacing the suspended Quansah and Madueke coming in for Saka. I was surprised to see Jordan Henderson was still listed among our subs. There was one change for Norway with Schjelderup replacing Nusa. We were playing in white shirts and Norway in red and blue.
As kick-off approached everyone started drifting in from outside and the boss announced that a couple at the front had just got married today. There were shouts and cheers as the teams were introduced and then we were off.
Madueke had a bit of an attempt in the second minute but it was well over. Norway showed their threat four minutes later when they tried to get the ball to Haaland near the edge of our box but Stones cut it out at the crucial moment. The drums were coming over loud and clear and I assume that was the Norwegian fans. There were boos in the pub as Infantino’s face came on. Norway were defending in depth and we were struggling to find a way through them but finally in the sixteenth we won a corner on our left. It went out for a throw to us on our right and that was that really. At any rate it was the start of a brief period of pressure from us without a chance worthy of the name being created. Finally in the twenty-third Madueke got to the goal-line down our tight and got a low cross in that had the Norwegian defence looking shaky but it came to nothing and then there was an early hydration break, not surprisingly in the very high temperatures over there. It had been a nondescript cagey affair so far so I hoped for more action up their end soon.
Shortly after we got going again Bellingham was fouled just outside their box. Kane took the free-kick but he hit it a bit too high. On the half-hour the Norway fans were getting into their rowing chant and Pickford was called upon to come out sharply to collect as their team pressed. He had to do even better just afterwards when a bad pass across from Stones almost gifted a goal to Haaland. That was the busiest he’d been all game. Two minutes later he held a header from Haaland but next thing Norway were in the lead. It really looked like a cross from Schjelderup from our right bit it looked to me like Pickford just got a hand to it, enough to deflect it onto our left post and into the net. I had to pay a call of nature and while I was in there I could hear that Norway had another decent goal attempt. When I got back to my seat, I asked an Indian lad who’d been keeping an eye on it for me what had happened but he didn’t understand me. As half-time approached both teams were really going for it and with the generous added-time we’ve had in this World Cup I hoped we’d nick one back before the break. And we did just that. I was at the bar getting a pint in before the half-time rush and Bellingham took a cross from our left from Gordon, jinked a little and hit a low shot past Nyland to put us level. The bar went mad and thankfully nobody had chucked beer all over my laptop when I got back to my spot. The ascendency was definitely with us and just before the whistle went Kane had the ball in the net but it was ruled out, rightly, for offside. It was 1-1- at half-time.
As we kicked off again I still reckoned we’d win but we’d have to be a tighter at the back. We’d brought on Saka and Eze for Rice and Madueke. I like Eze and he always looks a threat upfront to me. We were soon awarded a free-kick just outside their box but Eze’s effort was deflected for a goal-kick. In the fifty-second Saka would have done better to cross than to try a shot and next thing Pickford was tipping over the bar at the other end. Just after that he was pushing a Haaland effort round the post so it was all systems go. Norway were enjoying a good period of pressure and in the fifty-fifth they took the lead again when following a corner from our left Pickford had manged to push out a shot only for Heggem to hit it home from close range. Replays showed a clear push from Haaland and after a VAR review the goal was ruled out and the corner had to be retaken, which was strange but better than going 2-1 down. Net result – happiness. Norway continued to do most of the pressing for a few minutes but we gradually turned the tide. In the sixty-eighth Norway made a couple of changes with Schjelderup and Sorloth being replaced by Bobb and Nusa. We immediately had the second hydration break and when play resumed, we’d replaced Gordon with James. Gordon had certainly made his mark in this game and others.
The Indian folks at my table baled out in the seventy-fifth minute and I could feel extra-time beginning to loom. Next thing a header bounced off our bar as a reminder that anything could and probably would happen. It was going from end to end as those drums thrummed away. We conceded a corner in the eighty-second but thankfully it came to nothing and soon after that Pickford had to dive low to block a shot from Nusa. We then brought on Spence for O’Reilly and just after that I thought we’d scored but the ball had gone out for a corner. Rogers replaced Konsa as the final minutes ticked away and soon seven minutes of added-time were announced. There was little goalmouth action until the very end when Bellingham was tripped as he raced goalwards but no red card was awarded and then we were into extra-time. I was feeling rather fatigued so God knows what the players were feeling like. It was midnight U.K. time and the bar was thinning out but there were all-night tubes on my line so I was going nowhere yet.
Ostigard had replaced Heggem as we kicked off again. We soon won a corner on our right and after Norway had really struggled to get it clear Bellingham was there yet again to hit in a rebound after Nyland had only parried a Rogers shot from just outside the box. A third goal for us would surely seal it but I doubted whether things would be that easy. In the ninety-ninth it looked like we’d been awarded a penalty when Spence was brought down as he dribbled into the left side of their box but there was a VAR check that decided that there’d been no foul. This gave Norway some impetus and they soon won a corner. Stones headed it powerfully away and half-time in extra-time came closer. It remained 2-1 at the break after three more minutes of added-time. I don’t know what the lads at the next table were doing but there was an awful lot of spilled beer on the floor. I don’t believe in chucking beer about. It was meant to get in the mouth.
It was 00.30 as we got going once more but significantly Haaland had gone off to be replaced by Strand Larsen. Berg had a good long-distance shot in the hundred and eighth and it wasn’t far over the bar and then we were up the other end pummelling their goal. We then made our last switch with Burn coming on for Bellingham. Enough said. Norway won a corner in the hundred and fourteenth and it ended in Bobb shooting well over. Five minutes to go and here was still a lot of fight in Norway. Pickford went down after he’d punched clear and this didn’t go well with the Norwegian players, resulting in a yellow card for Ajer, the first of the game I believe. Time was ticking away and despite two more minutes of added-time, that whistle went and we’d won it 2-1 to much whooping and cheering all around me.