#广场预测世界杯赢40000U “Friendly matches are hard to play”—Haaland speaks after the match
“Friendly matches are hard to play”—Haaland has firsthand experience with it.
A World Cup quarterfinal that ended early on July 12 Beijing time saw Norway lose 1-2 to England in extra time. In this match, among the four players in England’s back line, three were teammates of Haaland at his Premier League club, Manchester City—people who know each other well. At this World Cup, Haaland has scored 7 goals, but under the tight defensive coverage from his club teammates, he didn’t get many chances to show himself, recording a first match with no goals. After the game, Haaland calmly accepted the defeat. He said the team’s performance exceeded everyone’s expectations, and reaching the quarterfinals was a great reward. With 6 goals, Bellingham has joined the race for the Golden Boot. Compared with England, which had 17 appearances, Norway has had fewer opportunities to feature at the World Cup; it’s only their fourth time qualifying, and the two teams have never met at the World Cup.
In terms of overall strength and experience, England holds the advantage—they led with 7 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses in 12 head-to-head international A matches between the two. Although it’s been 28 years since they last returned to the World Cup, Norway led by Haaland has impressed many. In the Round of 16, Norway eliminated the five-star Brazil side and advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time, which also gave outside observers more expectations for this Nordic team. Ahead of the match, England’s head coach Tuchel said Norway’s tactical system is mature, with many players in the squad playing in the Premier League, so they are very familiar with England players’ technical habits and England must not underestimate the opponent’s attacking pressure. In Norway’s starting XI today, more than half of the players are from the Premier League. Throughout the first half, England’s possession rate reached 68%, but the team to score first was Norway. In the 36th minute, “a magical goal” by Sherdrup opened the deadlock for Norway. With Kane, the team’s first-choice scorer, being limited, Bellingham stepped up—he scored an equalizer in stoppage time in the first half. Just as extra time began, it was again Bellingham’s follow-up shot that helped England secure a 2-1 win and lock in the result. In the last two knockout matches, Bellingham scored 4 goals and became the first driving force behind England’s advancement to the semifinals.
“No more needs to be said—every match, he can stand up and change it.” Tuchel called Bellingham a world-class midfielder, and said those two goals are worth their weight in gold. At this World Cup, Bellingham has scored 6 goals, adding him to the Golden Boot race. In the post-match review, Tuchel was satisfied with both the match result and the players’ willpower, but he felt the process wasn’t ideal: “We were lucky today. If we want to go further, we still have to do it better. To challenge for the title, you can’t rely only on willpower.” In the semifinals, England will face the winner between Argentina and Switzerland. After accepting the defeat, Haaland was pleased with the way the team made history at this World Cup. Mbappé and Messi are tied at the top of the scoring chart with 8 goals each, with Haaland one behind on 7; Kane is in fourth with 6. All four have a chance to compete for the Golden Boot. This match was also a direct face-off between Haaland and Kane, the two main Golden Boot contenders. At the pre-match press conference, when asked who was better, Kane said they play the same position but are different types of players: “Haaland and I are completely different types of center forwards. He focuses on attacking the box to score; I prefer to drop back to receive the ball and take part in organizing and linking up the whole team.”
Norway’s head coach Solbakken also touched on this, saying the competition between Haaland and Kane was unavoidable. As the teams’ main scoring threats, both players would become key targets for restrictions. As Solbakken put it, both were tightly marked in this match. In the entire first half, Haaland had only one header attempt. Kane was the same—he only received Bellingham’s pass and scored in stoppage time, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Throughout the match, Haaland had only 21 touches, the lowest number among all players at this World Cup. In Norway’s tactical setup, much of the attack was built around Haaland. In the previous four matches, Haaland scored 7 goals, but in this one he went blank. In the second half of extra time, a low-on-stamina Haaland was substituted, ending his first World Cup journey. “Reaching the quarterfinals is beyond everyone’s expectations, and we can accept the defeat calmly.”
Summing up his World Cup journey, Haaland said his 7 goals are just numbers; more precious is that he helped Norway create history. Like Haaland, Kane was also limited throughout the match, doing more of the supporting and build-up. “I’m not just a finisher—dropping back to support and pulling the defense around is also my responsibility.” After Haaland was eliminated, Kane led England to keep going, and he also has an opportunity to keep chasing Mbappé and Messi on the scoring chart. Knowing each other so well, this kind of “friendly match” is hard to play—England vs Norway is a real, no-exaggeration “friendly match.” It can be said that the people most familiar with Norway in the world are England. Whether it’s captain Ødegaard or Haaland, the opponents they face today are a group of teammates from their Premier League clubs, and they know each other extremely well. Haaland plays for Manchester City in the Premier League, and his club teammates Stones, Guey, O’Reilly, and Trafford form England’s entire back line. In this match, among England’s four defenders, three are from Manchester City—also Haaland’s club teammates. Having trained together for a long time, they know Haaland’s runs and shooting habits inside out. Throughout the match, Guey and Stones stayed within a step of Haaland, guarding him closely. After the match, Haaland admitted that these two players train against his matchup every week and know clearly his running patterns and aerial-duel habits, making it difficult for him to get comfortable attacking opportunities during the game.
In addition, Haaland and Bellingham are also teammates from their days at Dortmund. Before the match, in the player tunnel, Bellingham even gently kicked Haaland. The atmosphere between the two sides was also relaxed. In the first half, the two staged a fun moment: during one free-kick defensive sequence, they lightly pulled and shoved each other around, and after looking at each other, they both laughed. Another person facing a similar situation was Norway captain Ødegaard, who plays in the Premier League for Arsenal; today he directly faced his club teammates Rice, Saka, Madueke, Eze, and others. Ahead of the match, Ødegaard also said he knows most England players very well, and that it will be a major test. Even though he was limited, Ødegaard still helped Sherdrup score with a “scalpel-like” pass—his fourth assist at this World Cup. Though it’s a “friendly match,” the game itself flowed smoothly and wasn’t dull, and both teams played relatively amicably. The only yellow card of the entire match came in the final stage of extra time—Norway’s Ejaine showed dissatisfaction with the referee’s decisions and received a yellow card.
