Nyland Stands Tall as Norway Stuns Brazil to Reach Historic Quarterfinal
- Philip Fox
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
Credit Sky Sports
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
After narrow wins over their opponents, both Brazil and Norway wanted to enter the Round of 16 to prove they were world powerhouses. Brazil completed their 2-1 win over Japan in added time, while Norway took their 2-1 lead in the 86th minute. Both were late winners and underperformed compared to their group-stage performances.
The Norwegians started a similar 11 for this Round of 16 battle, with a slight formation change and one change in the starting 11. Norway started in a 4-1-2-3 formation. The starting goalkeeper was Ørjan Nyland. The four defenders were Julian Ryerson at right back, Kristoffer Ajer and Torbjørn Heggem as the center back duo, and David Møller Wolfe at left back. Martin Ødegaard (Captain) and Sander Berge were in the attacking midfield while Patrick Berg took charge of the defensive midfield. Alexander Sørloth at right wing, Erling Haaland at striker, and Antonio Nusa at left wing took care of the attacking front. Manager Ståle Solbakken led Norway.
Brazil also took the field in a 4-1-2-3 formation. Liverpool star keeper Alisson Becker started in goal. The defensive four were Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães, and Douglas Santos. The attacking midfielders were Bruno Guimarães and Gabriel Martinelli, while Casemiro took the defensive midfielder role. The forward trio was Rayan at right wing, Matheus Cunha at striker, and the speedy Real Madrid star, Vinícius Júnior, on the left wing.
Norway kicked off in New Jersey, and the battle was underway. Norway's high-octane attack started quickly with a rd minute goal that was ruled offside in the buildup down the right side. In the 10th minute, Brazil finally gained control of the ball and got fouled in the penalty box. At first, the foul was waved off, but VAR wanted a second look. After review, the referee changed his mind and pointed to the spot.
Bruno Guimarães took on the pressure to take the penalty. Even with the stutter step, Nyland was never tricked and handled the simple shot to the keeper's left.
The rest of the first half continued with a few back-and-forth shots, but nothing too dangerous for either side. Norway ended the half with 65% of the possession, taking a total of four shots and two on target, while Brazil took a total of eight shots but still only two on target.
Nyland continued his heroics as the second half started with two major saves. The first was in the 58th minute when Vinícius Jr. did a perfect through ball in the center channel, but pressure from Nyland made Endrick second-guess what should have been a "give-me" goal and clip it too far left. About four minutes later, Nyland got down low to knock away a straight shot from Rayan.
Norway continued with heavy possession and a few major chances but couldn't find the back of the net. In the 79th minute, they finally broke through. Schjelderup broke through on the left side and lofted the ball right to the giant viking Haaland in the middle of the box to head past Premier League rival Alisson into the right side of the net.
Nyland continued his all-star performance in the 86th minute when a ricocheted ball from Endrick off a Norwegian defender came floating into the top-right corner, forcing Nyland to backpedal and make an unbelievable reaching stop.
In the 89th minute, a familiar name appeared again. Haaland, after receiving a beautiful pass from Schjelderup, took one small touch to set himself up outside of the box and blasted the ball with his left foot into the right side of the net.
Brazil still played with the passion that you would expect and continued to push even though they were down 2-nil. Østigård, who came in to shore up the game, elbowed Casemiro in an aerial battle. No VAR was needed for this one; the referee pointed straight to the spot. Superstar and super sub Neymar came to the spot and netted the ball past Nyland for the first time of the night.
Too little, too late.
Haaland put Norway on his back and carried them to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history. The game finished with Norway holding 66% of the ball, taking nine shots and five on target. Brazil took 14 shots with four on target.
An interesting stat to look at was expected goals, as Brazil had an expected goal total of 2.61, mainly because of their two penalty-shot attempts. Norway only had an expected goal of 1.05, showing the true brilliance of Haaland's two shots.
While Haaland got a lot of credit, you could not look past how powerful Nyland's performance in goal was. With four goal saves, including a penalty shot, he made sure his goal was safe from the talented Brazilian squad.
Norway will next face England in Miami on July 11th in their first World Cup quarterfinal.
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