Former Norway manager Egil Olsen called Erling Haaland's performance against Kazakhstan in the Nations League "one of the worst things I've ever seen".
Despite having a squad that included Haaland, Martin Odegaard, the captain of Arsenal, Alexander Sorloth, a 32 million addition from Atletico Madrid, and Julian Ryerson, the right-back for Borussia Dortmund, Norway could only manage a goalless draw at Pavlodar Central Stadium.
Haaland's performance particularly infuriated TV2, a Norwegian television channel that rated the Manchester City striker at just 2/10 and called the team's performance "deplorable." The outcome was the latest setback for Norway, who lost to England in 2024.
Former Norway national team coach Olsen, who also managed Wimbledon in the Premier League in the early 2000s, was quite critical of Haaland's performance and particularly singled out Odegaard for falling short.
"We have two world-class players in the team," Olsen added. "Unfortunately, Erling Braut Haaland performed well below par today. It's among the worst things that Haaland has ever produced.
I have seen Martin Odegaard better, but he flares occasionally. This is a point too far. There aren't any other teams in this group willing to give Kazakhstan any points.
Stale Solbakken, the head coach of Norway, was unwavering in his optimism that his country can recover despite the uproar.
"We have great faith in what we do, and we are quite calm," he remarked. "At this point, we must be careful to avoid being defeated by death. However, it is evident that we came to this place hoping to win three points, and we ought to have done so."
Following the match, Odegaard himself addressed the media, commenting on Norway's performance. We do so well, therefore it's disappointing that we don't win. It's challenging; no one can really explain why we are able to score."
Even though Haaland did not score on this particular occasion, his record for Norway is very outstanding overall. The 24-year-old has scored 31 goals in his 34 outings, all but five of which have come in competitive games.
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