The Last Match Of Qualifying Defeats Norway

Norway’s last match of qualifying was a bit of a do-or-die situation if they wanted an automatic qualification spot for the Euro 2016 finals in France, and for a while it appeared to be going their way and then…..and then the Norwegians acted like the incompetent player of an old trumpet; first they sucked and then they blew it.

Italy at home is not the sort of draw anyone needs to go into needing a win. Norway headed for the Stadio Olimpico in Rome needing just that, or face the fraught process of a play-off match to get into the Euro 2016 finals in France next year. It was a fixture I doubt they, or anyone who likes to bet on sports in Norway was really relishing, they’d done so well, but whilst Croatia faced the ravages of Malta, Norway had Italy.

Norway’s Delayed Dream
• Terrible defensive error
• Telling 2-1 loss to Italy
• They now face a play-off game

The last match of qualifying puts a lot of pressure on those who haven’t already amassed enough points to sail through the last game without the worry of will-they-won’t-they playing through everyone’s mind, and Norway were under as much as can be mustered. Other, arguably, better teams had already been driven to the Euro 2016 play-offs by poor performance or a lack of results at the strategically all-important moments, and Norway had to win to avoid joining them.

Of course most of us watching the last match of qualifying kickoff had a fairly good idea of where the game was going to go, Italian flamboyance meets Norwegian stalwart defense in a war of constant attrition and pressure, there would be nifty footwork and heavy challenges, and Norway were going to bear the brunt of it. It was a natural presumption, but not one that the Norwegian team seemed to share, nor one Italy appeared able to live up to in the first half.

Norway’s Last Match Of Qualifying Goes Pear Shaped

To say Italy were not at their best in the last match of qualifying would be an understatement. It wasn’t that they couldn’t seem to find that final ball into the back of the net, which they couldn’t, but that even their passing was suspect, some of it desperately wayward, and over-egged with the sort of nervous misjudgment of a team itself under pressure, which, given they’re top of the group and have already qualified they weren’t. It was almost mysterious. Not that the Norwegians minded, for a while they weren’t headed for the Euro 2016 play-offs.

Norway’s goal wasn’t Roy of the Rovers, it was a scrappy rebound meets low volley that rumbled its way into the goal much to the delight of everyone who’d taken advantage of Norwegian gambling laws to back the side at sites like ComeOn! Sportsbook. The Norwegians were overjoyed, the Italians rather surprised. They didn’t need a result from the last match of qualifying, but beaten at home in front of your own fans by the Norwegians? Suddenly their desperation seemed apt.

The last portion of the first half felt like the last five minutes of a final, a flurry of pressure from Italy, who seemed to think they were on their way to the Euro 2016 play-offs, that constantly smashed its way into the red shirts of Norway and wholly failed to find a way through, even when the shots sent the Norwegian goalie diving at them outstretched. One nil up at half time in the last match of qualifying Norway were tantalizingly close to grabbing one of the coveted automatic qualification spots, and indeed reaching their first major tournament finals since 2000.

A Moment Of Norwegian Madness

Naturally Italy came out in the second half of the last match of qualifying like a team possessed, pushing Norway to defend deep, but despite their pressure Norway kept them at bay and even broke a few times, indeed it took them another 28 minutes before they got the equalizer they were chasing, but that was far less a matter of skill and tactics than a moment of utter madness shared between the Norwegian goalkeeper and his defender that saw them leave it so easy to score my Gran could have poked it home.

Despite their poor performance things were back on track for the Italians in the last match of qualifying, things were going to plan, they were running rampant the panic over, the Norwegians defending hard and breaking fast, but just not making anything of it in the final third. Ten minutes to go and Italy bang home another and suddenly the dream was over, their much sought after qualification now dependent on a play-off game. The disappointment was manifest, and no one would give you odds if you were apt to go gambling news coverage in the morning was going to unfavorable.

Having given away a one-nil lead through stupidity and confusion in their last match of qualifying, the Euro 2016 play-offs beckon now for Norway, a two-leg pressure cooker of a fixture that will see them meet a team just as desperate to get to France next year. Horrifically there’s a one in four chance it’ll be against the Swedes. Will the Norwegians be able to make it? That remains to be seen, but after this performance that was only marred by one moment of madness, you wouldn’t want to be the team facing them in mid-November.