How to Avoid a 0-9 Drubbing by Italy? Norway Boss: Focus on Ourselves & Don’t Think We’ll Lose by 9

In Matchday 9 of Group I in the UEFA FIFA World Cup Qualifiers group stage, Italy beat Moldova 2-0 away from home, leaving them with only a theoretical chance of direct qualification for the World Cup.

In the final round of World Cup Qualifiers, Norway will travel away to face Italy in a fierce showdown. Norway national team head coach Ståle Solbakken attended the pre-match press conference.

On Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso’s previous comment that World Cup qualification rules differ between Europe and the AmericasThese qualification rules were clearly established from the start. I heard Gattuso hopes that when two teams have the same points, head-to-head results are compared instead of total goal difference. I haven’t thought deeply about this, but I can understand his perspective—though such rules have flaws. After all, every game is crucial, and many results are unpredictable. Like our away game against Israel, we were pegged back to 1-1 in the 55th minute… Even so, I can understand and respect his view.

Gattuso also thinks European teams haven’t been treated fairly since World Cup expansion. Italy now has to go through playoffs, while some weaker teams from other confederations have qualified. What’s your comment on this?You’re asking me these questions as if we Norway are already world champions… In fact, Norway hasn’t been to the World Cup in a long time. I haven’t thought much about this. I can understand Italy’s point—maybe some national teams have an easier qualification path. But I have too many things to focus on, and I won’t call FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask about this.

In the last qualifier, it was 0-0 at halftime. Were you worried about not winning?When the team doesn’t score, doubts are inevitable. We’ve studied all of Estonia’s group games—they always perform well in the first half. Like Estonia’s away game against Italy, Italy only scored in the 60th minute to take the lead before Estonia lost. But when Estonia’s players tire, the game gets harder for them, and we knew we’d get more chances in the second half.

Do you think Italy will eventually qualify for the World Cup?I believe Italy can make it. They have a strong team and can use different tactical systems. I like coaches Luciano Spalletti and Gattuso a lot, and you just beat France recently.

When did you realize Norway could qualify directly for the World Cup?Definitely after the first leg at home against Italy. We had played 2 extra qualifiers in advance, while that was Italy’s first. That win gave us great mental strength, helping us play better in subsequent games and gain lots of goal difference—which was crucial. In the last qualifiers, we had problems with goal difference.

Norway’s last World Cup was in 1998, when you played as a player and lost 0-1 to Italy in the round of 16. Is this revenge?No, it’s not revenge. For our group of players, playing in the 1998 World Cup in France was amazing.

How’s the preparation going?We’ll finish all preparations tomorrow. Preparing for so many games is special, but we’ve done extensive analysis and presented everything to the players. Next, we’ll have one final training session and a tactical meeting.

Are all players ready to play?Yes, they all are.

Are you worried about a low-probability 0-9 drubbing?No, not at all. Neither my players nor I have ever lost by 9 goals, and we’ll do our best to keep that record. We just need to finish this qualifier well.

How’s Selvik doing?Yes, he’s fine.

What has Haaland done to be a team leader?Clearly, more game experience helps. He and Martin Ødegaard have been captain and vice-captain from the start, and we all see Haaland’s growth.

5,000 Norwegian fans will come to Milan tomorrow. Will you attend a celebration party?I won’t attend any party, and we have no plans for one now.

What do you think of your coaching career?There’s no magic secret—we strive to improve in all aspects. The players follow my arrangements well, though we’ve had bad games, like when we failed to qualify for the Euros.

What tactics will you use to avoid a 0-9 loss?It’s against Italy, who rarely lose at home… We’ll consider the opponent, but more importantly, we’ll focus on doing our own job well.

Martin Ødegaard is out injured.But he’s still with the team, which shows how important the national team is to him.

Is this like a training game?No, it’s a real match with 60,000 fans. Italy will try to avenge the first-leg loss—it’ll be a good test of our defensive ability.