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Published : 05 Jul 2026, 02:15 AM
Norway coach Stale Solbakken urged his players to keep their nerve and not get swept up in the occasion when they face Brazil in Sunday's World Cup last-16 showdown.
The Norwegians, spearheaded by prolific striker Erling Haaland, have been riding the crest of a wave at the World Cup, winning three of their four games to captivate the nation.
Yet the pragmatic Solbakken warned his players not to get carried away.
"We need to play the match, not the circumstances. We need to make sure that we don't play according to the occasion, but that we simply play the game," he told reporters on Saturday.
The 58-year-old fielded plenty of questions about Brazil attacker Vinicius Jr and how his side would defend against him.
"The left and right backs are important, but it's also about helping the wing-backs so that they are not faced in a one-to-one situation, situations where you need to stand up and do it alone," Solbakken said, admitting that those situations would still occur.
"We also hope that our zone style of play may help, so regardless of who plays in the back positions, they will be supported by the next player."
Solbakken said that one of the obvious keys to success for his side would be getting the ball to Haaland, who has scored five goals so far at the tournament, in good positions.
"I think we have found ways of supporting him and giving him the right service. We are a team that can't wait for Brazil because we are an offensive-minded team. During 90 minutes or 120 minutes against Brazil, you need to defend for longer or shorter periods, and then we have to be at our best there," he said.
In four attempts, Brazil have still never beaten Norway, but Solbakken said the South Americans remained favourites.
"I don't think they are big, big, big favourites, which they maybe had been some years ago ... we have had a very good run for a very long time, and we have great confidence and we have a good style of play with the ball as well, and I think that helps us," he said.
"I think it's difficult to put a precise percent (on our chances), if it's 60-40, or 70-30 or whatever - the important thing is that we can hurt Brazil on our day, but we still need to be our very, very best, otherwise we have no chance. But if we are at our very, very best, then we have a chance."
