MIAMI: Norway coach Stale Solbakken said the showdown between Erling Haaland and Harry Kane will go a long way to deciding his side’s World Cup quarter-final against England on Saturday.
Haaland has struck seven times in his first four appearances at a major tournament to fire Norway to the last eight for the first time on their return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence.
Kane is just one goal behind the Manchester City striker for the tournament after taking his World Cup tally to 14 as he has helped England reach a third consecutive quarter-final.
“I think it’s Norway versus England but I don’t think it is a secret that Kane is the match winner number one for England and Haaland is the match winner number one for us,” Solbakken said at his pre-match press conference in Miami.
Solbakken’s counterpart Thomas Tuchel was recruited by the English Football Association to get a talented generation of players over the line after a series of narrow misses at major tournaments under his predecessor Gareth Southgate.
By contrast, Norway are in their first major tournament of any kind for 26 years and have exceeded expectations, most notably in stunning 2-1 win against Brazil thanks to Haaland’s late double in the last 16.
“Every game has been the most important (in history) for Norwegian football, especially in the knockout rounds, so this is the third time it is the most important game,” added Solbakken. “I feel the players are in a relaxed but competitive mood.
“I think England has more pressure than us, but we also put pressure on our performance. When the game has started I don’t think the players think so much about the pressure when it’s eleven versus eleven.”
Norway’s progress has caught the imagination at home and across the Atlantic in the United States.
Their fans’ Viking row celebration has become one of the iconic images of the tournament, while Haaland’s status as a global star has soared thanks to his goalscoring prowess on the pitch and jovial personality off it.
“I think the whole of Norway is looking forward to tomorrow. We’ve had some great nights in this World Cup before and it brings the country together,” said Solbakken.
“Maybe this will never come back to Norway because I think we will qualify more. Every time (now) we have a possibility to go through to a European Championship or a World Cup. But now it’s 26 years since we had it last time.”
The match in south Florida could be impacted by brutal heat and humidity that is forecast around the 5:00 pm local time (2100 GMT) kick-off.
Miami is currently under a heat advisory from the US National Weather Service with “feels like” temperatures rising beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
“We have trained very lightly. We haven’t done much hard work. We are with the tactical sessions, but in a lower tempo and not trained for long periods. So it’s all about being fresh tomorrow,” said Solbakken, whose side have trained in Miami for the past three days.
The two countries, he said, would have to get “used to the same conditions.”
