Norwegian Gemini, teammates still need help

Written by/Hanbing The Norwegian team has continued to explode recently, which is closely related to the two major stars Haaland and Odegao's stable performance. Both have been famous for a long time and are highly expected: 10 years ago, Odegao joined Real Madrid with a U17 player transfer fee record of 4 million euros. Haaland shocked the football world in 2019 U20 World Youth Championship 9 goals in a single game. But since 2020, Norwegian team has been unable to qualify for three consecutive competitions.

Finally, the efforts of Haaland and Odegao have been responded to in the national team this season. Norway has exploded since the UEFA Group Stage last year, and the European qualifiers of this year's three World Cups have become even hotter. The two superstars are no longer questioned as "club superstars and national team mortals". They work together to improve the strength of the Norwegian team by a level.

Norwegian team finally had the "Demon"

The protagonist Thor Flo, who defeated the defending champion Brazil in the 1998 World Cup, witnessed the miracle of his junior Haaland defeating the world championship again after 27 years in the stands. Flo was 1.93 meters tall and scored a miracle by scoring the Brazilian defender. Now, Haaland, who is taller, stronger and more skilled than him, simply passed the goalkeeper and scored the ball into the empty goal.

No one questioned Haaland's ability, but his performance in the Norwegian national team has also gone from immature to maturity, from erratic to stable.

In the 2020/21 season, Haaland scored 41 goals and 12 assists in 41 games at Dortmund, but he was just a "rookie" in Norway. In 6 games in the 2021 European Cup qualifiers group stage, Haaland missed 4 games due to injury, and lost all 2 games in his appearances. In the semi-finals of the playoffs in October 2020, Haaland played for 120 minutes without any results, and the team missed the European Cup finals. In the 2020/21 national team cycle, 10 appearances and 6 out of 12 games, 7 goals and 1 assist were data from underarms like Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. After

Haaland entered the state with Norway, sometimes scoring goals and sometimes suffering from injuries.

Haland was injured and missed 4 games in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, and during this period, Norway only won 1 win in four games and missed the World Cup. In the 2023 European Cup qualifiers, he was injured and away from Spain and Georgia. Norwegian team was not eligible for the playoffs and missed the 2024 European Cup. By the end of the warm-up match against the Czech Republic and Slovakia in March 2024, Haaland scored 4 goals with Norway, and the doubts reached its peak.

It was not until June 2024 that Haaland truly entered the "super" mode in Norway. He scored a hat-trick against Kosovo that month. Haaland broke the Norwegian goal record set by Yuvi in ​​1934 (33 goals) and became the new Norwegian Golden Boot. In just one year, Norwegian team has attended all 11 games, handing out 14 goals and 1 assist, and averaging 1.36 goals per game. After breaking through the Israeli goal in March this year, Haaland played for Norway in 41 games and scored 40 goals, making it the fastest European player to score 40 goals since German superstar Geed Mueller (33 games).

After defeating Italy, Haaland averaged 0.98 goals per game in Norway (42 games 41 goals). The only national team scorers who scored more than 20 goals were Nelson (Denmark, 52 goals in 38 games) and Puskas (Hungary, 85 games 84 goals) who were more efficient than him. Haaland only took 4 years and 7 months to reach the national team's 40 goals, but it was based on the fact that Norway missed three consecutive competitions and had at least 9 games missing. The 21st Century Super Scorer National Team scored 40 goals, Ronaldo took 9 years, Messi and Lewandowski took 8 years, and Mbappe took 5 years and 10 months.

As long as there are no major injuries, Norwegian team will participate steadily in the competition. Haaland, who has an age advantage, will not be impossible to hit Ronaldo's national team goal record. Similarly, as long as Haaland maintains high efficiency in the "super mode", the Norwegian team will usher in a more brilliant golden age than the 1990s. Before Haaland, the Norwegian hope was the genius called "fifty years".

In 2014, Odegao, who was only 15 years old, set the youngest appearance record in the history of the Norwegian Super League and Norwegian team. In January 2015, he set the U16 player transfer fee record (4 million euros), becoming the first Norwegian player to join Real Madrid and the most expensive U16 player in Real Madrid's history. Unfortunately, Odegao's career in the club and national team has been bumpy: when he played for Real Madrid's first team, it had been 679 days since he joined Real Madrid, and he had never proved himself in Real Madrid. In Norway, Odegao's virgin assists were three years and seven months away from his debut, and it took almost nine years to make 10 assists.

In March 2021, Odgao, who was only 22 years old, wore the Norwegian captain's armband. He has participated in four major competition qualifiers and is extremely in a state of great difficulty. After becoming the captain, Odegao still failed to "carry the team forward." In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, he scored goals and assisted twice in 10 games, and the same was true for the subsequent UEFA B-level 6 group matches. The 2024 European Cup qualifiers rebounded by 1 goal and 1 assist in 7 games, and last year the UEFA Group Team suffered another injury. It was not until this year's World Cup qualifier that Norwegian fans waited for the moment when Odegao showed his talent in the national team. With 5 assists in 3 games, he assisted three teammates with a hat trick against Israel, and with a series of assists against Italy, the two superstars finally began to work together to show their strength.

Odegao has handed in Norway with 3 goals and 16 assists, including 6 assists Haaland. Odegao took ten years to break out in Norway. The fundamental reason is the changes in the frontcourt formation of Norway and the general improvement of teammates' status and strength.. Coach Solbaken puts him on the right side of the midfield triangle, with Premier League Fulham midfielder Bellig behind him, and Tosby (Genoa, Serie A), Asgo (Luton, Championship) and Borg (Bodd Shining, Noozan Super League) with rich high-level league experience sharing pressure. In addition, wingers like Shidrup (Benfica, Portuguese Super League), Noosa (RB Leipzig, Bundesliga), Bob (Manchester City, Premier League) have opened up the offensive space, and Throot has entered its peak period. Haaland is no longer alone in the front line, which makes Odegao easy to organize the offense.

As Norwegian media "VG" said: The Norwegian team broke out in the European qualifiers in the World Cup, Haaland and Odegao are the undisputed two protagonists: Haaland scored three consecutive goals, Odegao assisted 5 times, and the two participated in half of the team's 12 goals. The Norwegian team continues to rely on the "thighs" of these two superstars, and the prospects are naturally worth looking forward to.