Apparently, tempers flared in the Norwegian national team’s camp after the end of Norway’s European Championship dream. According to newspaper VG, Alexander Sørloth and Lars Lagerbäck were arguing loudly.
The newspaper writes that there was a meeting between the two Norwegian strikers and the coaches Lagerbäck and Per Joar Hansen, which led to an impromptu general meeting with the squad the day before the national league game against Northern Ireland last week.
There, Sørloth is said to have loudly argued with the national team manager.
He was critical of Norway’s play style and their approach to the European Championship game against Serbia, which Norway lost 1-2.
The two are said to have been in a heated conversation for almost an hour before Lagerbäck and Hansen left the room to leave the two players to discuss among themselves.
Later, the coaches were summoned again, and the heated discussion between Sørloth and Lagerbäck allegedly continued.
The Cyprus game
Four sources that VG has spoken to say that Lagerbäck then highlighted Sørloth’s error from 2018.
“How dare you say something, after missing an open goal against Cyprus two years ago?” Lagerbäck asked Sørloth, according to the sources.
TV 2 has also mentioned these internal tensions in the Norwegian national team.
Team Captain Stefan Johansen allegedly had to calm down the conflict between Sørloth and Lagerbäck.
He is also said to have attended a reconciliation meeting between the Leipzig player and the coaches later that evening.
High temperature
Already this weekend, information emerged that Sørloth was reprimanded by Lagerbäck’s assistant, Per Joar Hansen, with the words: “One more word, and you are out of here!”
According to VG, Hansen said the following about the team meeting:
“It was heated. And that’s fine, as long as it doesn’t boil over. We must have high tolerances because we operate at the very highest level, and it is ultimately about winning. Then it’s natural that there is an incredible amount of passion.”
The Norwegian Football Association is tight-lipped about the allegedly heated atmosphere during the team meeting.
“It is only natural that there are very strong emotions in a high-performance group after a disappointment that was the loss against Serbia.
“It only testifies to the strong commitment. Beyond that, we have no comment on this,” Secretary-General Pål Bjerketvedt at NFF told TV 2.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Compared to today’s nuclear superpower confrontations, ongoing wars, and coronavirus, this is at least comic relief. 🙂