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GOAL! Norway 1-0 Wales (Nusa 59)
The corner’s only half-cleared. The ball drops to Nusa on the edge of the box, to the left of the D. He takes a touch infield, sweeping James aside, before fizzling a low drive into the bottom left. Darlow has no chance. What a strike … and it would never have happened without that acrobatic trap a minute earlier.
58 min: Nusa takes down a difficult crossfield pass with an elegant leap and trap, then dribbles hard down the left, winning a corner off Williams, from which …
56 min: Rodon skittles Berge. Ryerson thinks a free kick is going to be awarded, so puts his hand on the ball then takes one. But the ref hasn’t whistled! Wales want a free kick of their own, but they don’t get that either. Norway are rewarded the restart. Some mild Welsh seething, but it’s all in the middle of the park so nothing much has been lost. A mildly amusing aside.
54 min: Bobb skates past Dasilva on the right. He reaches the byline but his cross pings off Davies and out for a corner, which is worked right to left. Nusa swans in from the flank and releases Berge into the box with a clever reverse pass down the channel. Berge opens his body and aims for the far corner, only for Cullen to make a last-ditch block. That almost certainly saved a goal. Norway are getting closer.
52 min: Nusa spins Ampadu with absurd ease down the left. Ampadu throws his hands around the winger’s waist from behind, but suddenly remembers he’s already been booked and releases. Just in time, because had Nusa gone down, Ampadu would surely have been walking. Nothing comes of the rest of the attack.
50 min: Norway knock it around the back awhile. All very patient, but Wales won’t mind this.
48 min: … the corner’s worked back to Dasilva, who threads a pass down the inside-right channel for Johnson, who swivels and lashes a first-time shot into the side netting. Selvik had it covered.
47 min: James was the liveliest Welsh attacker in the first half, and he starts the second in similar mood, dribbling down the right and winning a corner, from which …
Norway get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment. The other game in Group A4, between Portugal and Denmark, will be played later this evening. Our first glimpse of a future without him. Miguel Dantas reports from Portugal.
HALF TIME: Norway 0-0 Wales
Both teams have had their half-chances. Dan James with three of them. But nothing clear cut. Wales will be the happier, having defended resolutely.
45 min: Nusa rolls a pass down the left for Aasgaard, who crosses low, hoping to find Haaland in the middle for a tap-in. Rodon pokes out for a corner, from which Cullen draws a foul from Haaland. There will be one additional first-half minute.
43 min: Wilson slips James into the Norway box down the right. James pearls a shot from a tight angle. Selvik parries, and the rebound fails to fall to either Koumas or Cullen. Norway clear their lines. James has had his chances.
42 min: I wanted to use the word “bobble” for that coming-together between Davies and Bobb, but after using “weaves” it felt like putting a hat on a hat. Anyway, fine run and a defensive intervention to match.
40 min: Bobb weaves past Johnson and Dasilva down the right but can’t beat a third man in Davies. A fine dribble, but the ball pings back off Davies, onto Bobb, and out. Goal kick.
39 min: … but his near-post delivery is awful, and Cullen clears. Wales counter quickly, the ball ending up with James on the left. He whips a cross through the six-yard box. Koumas is the only yellow shirt anywhere near, and he fails to respond. Had Koumas gambled and made a run, he’d have had a tap-in.
38 min: Bobb plays a speculative ball down the right, forcing Ampadu to extend a leg and poke out for another Norway corner. Odegaard wanders over to take …
37 min: Heggem swings a cross in from the left. Under pressure from Haaland, Darlow races off his line to punch clear with authority. Odegaard tries again from the right. Haaland wins a header this time, but can’t get any power on it, or direct it goalwards. Haaland sighs.
35 min: Nusa looks a wee bit frustrated. He’s looked lively, but the final pass hasn’t come off for him. Odegaard frowning too. Craig Bellamy will be delighted to see this mild Norwegian displeasure.
33 min: Norway pin Wales back. Nusa, Odegaard and Bobb buzzing around. Wales defensively disciplined. It suddenly feels like the last 28 minutes of the rugby.
31 min: Haaland hasn’t done anything so far. But then! He holds the ball up on the edge of the Welsh box, holding off three defenders with absurd ease, and lays off to Aasgaard, whose low shot is deflected wide right. Corner, which Odegaard one-twos with Bobb, the latter releasing his mate along the byline with a cute backflick. But the flag goes up for offside. Shame, because it was a clever move.
29 min: Arsenal fans need not worry. Odegaard is fine, and he uses that now slightly flattened foot to stroke a lovely crossfield pass to Nusa on the left. Nusa cuts back infield and blazes over the bar. Wales are keeping Norway at arm’s length for the most part.
28 min: Cullen stands on Odegaard’s foot, and is fortunate to escape a booking. A slight slip, so the referee is kind. Odegaard goes down awhile, but gets back up eventually.
26 min: Bobb has the chance to release Ryerson down the right but plays the pass behind his team-mate. Norway are struggling to get into the Welsh final third.
24 min: Moller Wolfe catches Ampadu, perhaps a little payback for that earlier challenge. Just a free kick, which seems right enough. Craig Bellamy doesn’t think so, and says his piece to the fourth official. He’d do well to keep his counsel, because the coach will miss the Portugal game if he’s booked tonight.
22 min. James cuts in from the right before attempting to thread a shot into the bottom right. The ball bobbles wide; not sure Selvik had that totally covered, but we’ll never know for sure.
21 min: Wales pass it around patiently, probing down both flanks. Norway hold their shape. Craig Bellamy will be pleased with his team’s positivity.
19 min: This game is very open, as Craig Bellamy promised, albeit not in so many words. Odegaard crosses from the right; Aasgaard heads over the bar when he should have made Darlow work. Somewhere in the multiverse, both teams are on the scoresheet.
18 min: Bobb’s attempt to find Haaland with a pass into the Wales box is cut out. Wales launch a counter through Wilson, who eats up the yards down the middle, then shuttles the ball forward for James, who shifts it to the right before looking to float a shot across Selvik and into the bottom left. He clears the keeper, but the effort goes wide.
16 min: Nusa and Moller Wolfe one-two their way down the left. Ampadu comes sliding in from behind and crudely brings Moller Wolfe down, taking out his standing leg. A booking that will keep him out of the Portugal game next week. He’s slightly fortunate the referee isn’t in a bad mood, because you’ve seen red cards given for less.
15 min: … and Odegaard’s delivery, low to the near post, is met by Heggem, who sidefoots over the bar from eight yards. He probably should have scored, though the box was crowded and Dasilva was on his case.
14 min: Nusa dribbles past Williams a wee bit too easily, and crosses from the left. Haaland waits to power a header home, only for Davies to nip in ahead of him and deflect the ball over the bar. Corner coming in from the right …
12 min: Wales play some lovely one-touch stuff, drawing triangles from the left-back position all the way across to the right wing, Davies, Dasilva, Cullen and Wilson all involved, Dan James finally sending a low cross in that’s easily cleared. An underwhelming end to a sweeping easy-on-the-eye move.
10 min: Norway are seeing a lot of the ball, but most of it in their own half. The hosts struggling to play their way through the Welsh press.
9 min: Williams finds a bit of space down the right … and clanks a dreadful cross deep into the stand behind the goal. He gets some applause of encouragement from his manager anyway.
7 min: Nusa dribbles his way down the left and wins the first corner of the evening. Odegaard’s delivery is flicked on at the near post and cleared by Davies. Much as Craig Bellamy hinted, this already doesn’t feel like a 0-0 in the making.
5 min: … but Odegaard’s delivery is weak and headed clear by Ampadu. Egil Olsen would not approve.
4 min: Norway, having shipped that half-chance, spend some time stroking the ball around the back, establishing a bit of home control. Rodon gets fed up with it and clatters into Nusa, giving Norway a free kick that they’ll lump towards Haaland …
2 min: Johnson makes ground down the left, nipping past Ryerson with ease, and curls in low. Wilson, arriving late, sends a first-time sidefooted shot a long way wide left. That was a decent half-chance.
1 min: A slightly underhit Cullen backpass is nearly latched onto by Haaland. Darlow comes to the edge of his box to whack clear, just in time.
Wales get the ball rolling. A fine atmosphere at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.
The teams are out! Norway in their red shirts with navy-blue Nordic cross; Wales in second-choice yellow. We’ll be off once the pennants have been exchanged, coins tossed, and fists bumped.
Some more gauntlet-down talk from Craig Bellamy, this time on the BBC. “I expect Norway will have a point to prove [after their defeat in Cardiff] … but also: can we be better than we were that night as well? … we’re gonna have to be … that’s the challenge for both teams … we both want to be a better version of ourselves … reactions … duels … make better decisions … that’s what we’re always looking to chase.”
Pre-match postbag. “Wow. Just, wow. I almost don’t care what happens in the football. (Almost, but not quite.) Can’t deny the room got a little dusty as the rugby finished. The home fixture against Norway was a great performance, and a great result. More of the same, please. I’m happy with the team, looking forward to seeing Lewis Koumas teach a certain Norwegian striker about the art of centre forward play” – Matt Dony
“If I were a gambling man I might put a few Bobb on Norway” – Peter Oh
Bellamy: ‘Go for it!’
Craig Bellamy promises S4C a front-foot game: “Chaos … they play chaos … they’ll have six or seven players rolling out … that’s not normal … there will be loads of things you see tonight you don’t see normally … we either sit back or go and match it … I feel if you want to be in the top group … you have to earn it … these teams have earned it … it would be worse if we sat back and [League A status] got taken off us … what’s the worst-case scenario … pot two? … so … go for it! … I am a fan as well … let’s go and do that and have no regrets after … see what happens … and maybe it might work!”
Presented for your pleasure. To read at your leisure.
This isn’t a meeting of two teams in form. Norway have lost their last three games, perhaps a wee bit emotionally spent following their glorious antics at the World Cup (and their quarter-final defeat to England makes it four losses in the last five). Wales have lost four of their last five as well, winning just one of their last eight … though that victory was over Norway last month. So there is hope; just not too much of it.
Well, nobody expected that. Now we turn our attention to the other sport woven into the very fabric of Welsh culture: snooker darts pêl-llaw football. Can the heroism on display in Cardiff inspire Craig Bellamy and his team to a famous win of their own? By way of comparison, the Welsh rugby team were priced at 20-1 to beat the All Blacks this afternoon; the football team winning in Norway is a mere 9-1 shot. Nothing is impossible.
The soundtrack in the Principality Stadium. Could it be anything else?
Wales have beaten the All Blacks for the first time since 1953! The final score 35-28. New Zealand spent pretty much the last half-hour inside the Welsh 22, but the red wall held firm. What a defensive stand! Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Lorde, Russell Crowe, Bret, Jemaine and Murray … your boys took one hell of etc. Astonishing.
So anyway, welcome to the dustcart that follows the Lord Mayor’s show.
Wales … I mean, you’re transfixed on the rugby, with a first win over New Zealand for 73 years tantalisingly close, but I’ll go on anyway … make four changes to the starting XI following the 0-1 home defeat to Denmark. Karl Darlow replaces Danny Ward in goal. Ben Cabango and Sorba Thomas are suspended, so in come Joe Rodon and Harry Wilson. And Dan James replaces his missing namesake Jordan. Six minutes away from a first win over the All Blacks since 1953, though!
The teams
Norway: Selvik, Ryerson, Ajer, Heggem, Moller Wolfe, Bobb, Berge, Aasgaard, Nusa, Odegaard, Haaland.
Wales: Darlow, Williams, Rodon, B Davies, Dasilva, Wilson, Ampadu, Cullen, D James, Koumas, Johnson.
Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi (Ukraine)
Preamble
Wales could do with winning this one all right. Group A4 currently looks like this …
1. Portugal P4 W 4 D0 L0 GD+5 Pts 12
2. Denmark P4 W2 D0 L2 GD0 Pts 6
3. Wales P4 W1 D0 L3 GD-3 Pts 3
4. Norway P4 W1 D0 L3 GD-2 Pts 3
… which means Portugal have qualified for the quarter-finals, and Denmark can’t be directly relegated, but everything else is pretty much still up in the air. The Danes could still drop into the relegation play-offs, but they could also make the quarters. Wales and Norway meanwhile could both still make the quarters, be directly relegated, or have to suffer the relegation play-offs. So let’s not get bogged down too much in that, not yet. Wales need to get this job done before we start leafing through the Bumper Uefa Regulations Annual 2026 with a sweat on. Kick-off in Oslo is at 5pm GMT. It’s on.
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