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The Norwegian national football team is preparing for friendly matches against Lithuania as if it were an official qualifying match. "These matches are very important in terms of drawing lots," said national team strategist Egil Olsen.
The cost of the match - a place in the draw
It is said that Tuesday's friendly match result could determine Norway's basket in the 2014 World Cup qualifying draw.
The basket - which, when higher, allows avoiding potentially stronger opponents - will be formed based on the FIFA national team rankings in July. This is calculated not only based on official matches but also on the results of friendly matches.
According to unofficial theoretical calculations, in the case of a victory against Lithuania, Norwegians would stay in the first basket and avoid strong opponents. Otherwise, Russia could overtake Norway. One Norwegian newspaper even spoke of a "matter of life and death" before the match.
"It is possible that if we do not win, we will fall from the first basket to the second. That is why these matches are very important," said Norway's national team coach Egil Olsen to the press.
"I would even call these matches as important as qualifying matches - if they give us more chances to fight for a place in the final stage of the World Cup in Brazil," said Fulham defender Brede Hangeland from London.
"This will be a serious motivation for us and at the same time preparation for the qualifying matches against Iceland and Cyprus," added Roma defender John Arne Riise.
Preparing with almost the strongest lineup
On Saturday, the Norwegian national team lost to the Portugal national team 0:1 in an away match in the EURO 2012 qualifiers. After this result, Norwegians lost their position as leaders in Group H of the qualifiers, but with 10 points gathered, they still share 1-3 places with Portugal and Denmark.
For the matches against Portugal and Lithuania, E. Olsen assembled the strongest lineup. 14 out of 21 national team players play for foreign clubs, with the highest number of foreign players from England - four. Stars like defender J.A. Riise, midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen, and forward John Carew were called up to the team.
Despite the fact that Carew is most likely to not play due to poor physical form, the Norwegian coach assured that this does not mean they are preparing for experiments. "There will be changes, but I don't think we will experiment much. We have 5-6 younger players who are eager to play. Substitutions may depend on the course of the match," said E. Olsen.
Talking about the opponent Lithuania, E. Olsen mentioned earlier that he expects a serious challenge. "I saw Lithuania's home match against Spain. Lithuanians left a good impression on me. It is a team of higher skill than many Norwegians imagine. These matches will be a serious challenge for us," said the coach.
No hurry to finish training
The match with Norway will take place at the impressive Oslo "Ullevaal" stadium. It has a seating capacity of 26,000 spectators, with almost 1500 VIP seats, 16 grandstands, and 5 VIP entrances, as well as other infrastructure.
The Lithuanian national team's training on Monday at the stadium lasted almost half an hour longer than planned.
Despite the rain at the beginning of the practice, which soaked the footballers, many of them stayed on the field to practice ball control after the training. "You really don't want to leave such a stadium and field," said one of the national team's veterans, Mantas Saveonas.
The footballers of Lithuania and Norway will meet in Oslo for the second time in history - in 1999, our country's representative was the Vilnius "Žalgiris" team invited unexpectedly to replace Turkey's team due to an earthquake on the eve of the matches.
The Tuesday match between Lithuania and Norway will kick off at 20:00 local time.
Norway's national team list for the match against Lithuania:
Goalkeepers: Rune Almenning Jarstein (Stavanger "Viking," Norway), Espen Bugge Pettersen ("Molde" FK, Norway); Defenders: Tom Høgli ("Tromsø" IL, Norway), Kjetil Wæhler ("Aalborg" BK, Denmark), Brede Hangeland (London "Fulham," England), John Arne Riise (AS "Roma," Italy), Espen Ruud ("Odense" BK, Denmark), Vadim Demidov (San Sebastiano "Real Sociedad," Spain), Jonathan Parr ("Aalesund" FK, Norway), Håvard Nordtveit (Mönchengladbach "Borussia," Germany); Midfielders: Morten Gamst Pedersen ("Blackburn Rovers" FC, England), Bjørn Helge Riise ("Sheffield United" FC, England), Christian Grindheim (SC "Heerenveen," Netherlands), Ruben Yttergård Jenssen ("Tromsø" IL, Norway), Alexander Tettey ("Rennes" FC, France), Markus Henriksen ("Rosenborg" BK, Norway), Henning Hauger ("Stabæk" IF, Norway); Forwards: Mohammed Abdellaoue ("Hannover 96," Germany), Daniel Braaten ("Toulouse" FC, France), John Carew ("Stoke City" FC, England), Erik Huseklepp (AS "Bari," Italy).
