ENEBYBERG (VG) These figures show that Norway’s win against Serbia is the national team’s strongest away win in 20 years. Ståle Solbakken felt a new scalp against Sweden on Sunday.

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Serbia is number 29 in the FIFA rankings, and in fact we have to go back 20 years to find stronger results away from home.

In 2002, Nils Johan Semb’s side won 1-0 away against Romania, then ranked the 26th best team in the world. Prior to the encounter with Norway, Romania had suffered three bad losses in the last 28 qualifying matches.

– Ståle Solbakken and I talked about it before the game. “If we manage to win here – and under such conditions – it will be long on the list of Norwegian football history,” said Semb VG at that time.

“Big day for Norwegian football”, describes the manager of the national team at the time. Semb still remembers it as a strong win, and level with Thursday’s achievement.

– This is a team at the same or slightly higher level that we have to beat if we want to reach the championship. The away win against Serbia was a very strong start, now that Norway have the advantage in the group.

The following day, the national team arrived in Sweden and trained on Friday on grass in a quiet rural setting at wide club Enebybergs IF. The starting eleven against Serbia and Alexander Sørloth shined in their absence.

Hundreds of kids were in a desperate hunt for autographs, and couldn’t fully hide the disappointment when NFF president Lise Klaveness with a barrage of Swedish pronunciation said they were in the gym the day after the Serbia game.

But autograph and selfie hunters adapted, and gathered around Europa League winner Jens Petter Hauge, Premier League player Mathias Normann and other Norwegians in attendance – and eventually national team manager Ståle Solbakken.

“That’s how it was when Haaland didn’t come,” Solbakken said with a laugh, before boarding the bus that took the team away. Prior to that, the national team manager had spent his time with the press.

He does not want Serbia’s ranking to match Romania’s.

– I care most about recovery and don’t have time to think about it. It was a good performance against a good team that gave us problems in some parts of the second half. “For me, it’s not so important to rank, we have to get a new scalp on Sunday,” he said.

Captain Martin degaard believes victory over Serbia not a game that Norway would have won a few years ago.

– I agree with Martin. Now they bring a lot of confidence for the next game. This is how you build a team, and this group has all the prerequisites to play against Norway for the championship. It’s an interesting team with lots of young players and some alone, Semb believes.

– In the beginning, the players didn’t know me and I didn’t know the players. We have made progress since then. “What Martin is talking about is a sense of progress and belief in what we’re doing,” said Solbakken.

Midfielder Henning Berg was named best on the pitch against Romania 9/10 on the VG exchange. Unlike Leo Skiri stigård, who got rid of everything that came from Serbia and awarded BB.

– It’s great to win 1-0. That’s the best thing for a defender, Stigård told VG after the game.

Berg believes the stopper duo Strandberg / stigård will be solid.

– Strandberg was brilliant in his last international game. I was impressed with what he said yesterday, he was very, very good. Stigård is an excellent “fighter” and duel player. They complement each other well, Berg analyzes.

Against Serbia, Erling Braut Haaland won the match. 20 years ago, it was the high-flying Steffen Iversen who nodded in the winning goal.

– Romania have a good team, but so do we. They pushed us, and I had some good clearance in my own box and won a lot of duels. It was a good match. I’m standing right behind Steffen and would probably get ten on the stock exchange if I scored. But Steffen better lead it, Berg laughed.

He praised the way the national team today handled the occasion in Serbia.

– I think the team has a good mentality. They don’t seem stressed and well prepared. They release a lot of posts in the box and are better when they push high than when they are low. They killed the match with higher pressure towards the end. “It has to be said that they were a bit lucky too, Serbia had some good chances,” said Berg.