Poor Norway Fail To Find The Final Ball Against Hungary

The Euro 2016 play-offs kicked off with Hungary visiting the frozen north where poor Norway were found wanting as the Magyar machine managed to hold off the home side with a stunning debut goal from Kleinheisler giving the visitors the win at full time.

Poor Norway Beaten

• 1-0 to Hungary
• Next leg on Sunday
• Best odds at Bet365

Ever had one of those days? Well poor Norway had one of those nights, losing 1-0 to Hungary in the first leg of their play-off for the Euro 2016 tournament next year in France. Despite having the majority of possession, almost constantly running at the Magyar defense, they just couldn’t find what the commentators kept referring to as “the final ball”. This, it transpired, meant they couldn’t score.
Something most of us had already noticed.

It began well enough for Norway, Per Ciljan Skjelbred getting a shot on target but Gábor Király the Hungarian goal-keeper, earning his 100th cap, displayed quite the athletic ability hidden beneath baggy grey sweat-pants, and tipped it away. It was the last time for nearly 90 minutes that poor Norway looked capable in front of goal as what followed was an admirable display of perpetual pressure leading to no tangible result whatsoever repeated so often it became almost painful to watch.

This agony became even more acute when László Kleinheisler, on his debut at this level, turned fast on the end of a pass into the box and belted it across the stretched Nyland who will be re-watching that goal and wincing to himself that he didn’t do far better in the circumstance. Now if you were Norwegian gambling laws of Nordic manhood would see your national team heap on the pressure and get an equalizer you’d only, alas, be half right. Poor Norway, just couldn’t score.

Hungary Keep Out Poor Norway In Euro 2016 Play-Off

Poor Norway’s desperation was manifest in the way they went forward in force and almost inevitably fumbled it at the last possible moment. There was some superb build up play of which they should be justly proud, but the central defense for Hungary was stalwart throughout and just when the Norwegians needed a break they found a looming Lang or Guzmics just getting in their way and, somewhat repetitively, knocking it out for a corner.

Norwegian corners became somewhat of a theme at times, sixteen of them in total (Hungary didn’t get any) with the Norwegians attempting to drop the ball on Kiraly as often as possible, perhaps feeling that at his age he’s not as good in the air as he used to be. They may well be right, but even if they are, the Norwegians seemed entirely unable to use this weakness to their advantage, with balls sailing in and being quickly, if not always delicately, cleared away.

Was it that poor Norway’s strikers got a bit too fiddly? One too many back-heels, one too few hammered shots on target? Their pursuit of the final ball was just as fruitless as a cannibal’s diet, and as Hungary began to more comfortably sit on their lead the dying moments of the game gave the Norwegians a chance of redemption, only for the effort to be first saved by Kiraly and then completely fluffed by Pal Andre Helland who has to be gambling news headlines in Norway will be none too kind about him.

Match Played In Good Spirits – Apart From The Dive

At the final whistle, after Hungary had pushed poor Norway’s face into the turd of their defeat by professionally running the clock down in every way possible, including the all the old classics from substitutions at walking pace to taking the ball to the corner and shielding it, the single goal score line failed to reflect what an entertaining game of football it had been, played, it has to be said, in rather good humor for a game of such importance.

Omar Elabdellaoui very nearly spoiled all that by rather obviously diving in the penalty area just a few minutes after he was denied a penalty for a perfectly legitimate case of shirt pulling, whereupon Referee Mark Clattenburg booked him for his Klinsmann-esque theatrics. The question is, when the two teams meet up again on Sunday for the second leg in Budapest, will both sides retain their cool and not let the pressure of the moment trigger their inner hostility?

Their win has seen Hungary’s odds of qualification at Bet365 shorten to 1/3 with poor Norway at 9/4 to reach the finals in France, something they’ll be largely unhappy about, and whilst many a Magyar will be looking to place a bet on their surprisingly stolid team’s performance going into that second leg, I suspect that ComeOn! Sportsbook will be garnering a little trade from optimists who like to bet on sports in Norway and believe this 1-0 deficit can be over turned on Sunday.