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Sunday, March 24, 2024

The Soccernostalgia Interview, Part 86- Video Interview and Blog Presentation with Mr. Runar Nordvik, the Head of Media at Norwegian Club FK Haugesund and former Football Journalist on Norway v. England World Cup Qualifier on June 2, 1993

 For this interview, I look back at the World Cup Qualifier between Norway v. England on June 2, 1993.

The Interview will be as a video link companion, while the Blog will be a presentation of the events.

The Interviewee is:

Mr. Runar Nordvik

 

Mr. Nordvik is the Head of Media at Norwegian Club FK Haugesund and former Football Journalist

 

Mr. Nordvik’s contact info:

Twitter: @RunarNordvik

 

 

My contact information:

on twitter @sp1873 and on facebook under Soccernostalgia.

https://linktr.ee/sp1873

 

Listen on Spotify / Google Podcasts / Apple Podcasts:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6N0o4mLvX8dqNOkvky95kK?si=ddG17kpdRzSrf6wRKJ8GsQ&nd=1&dlsi=fad6f06c0b39496d

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MzgyNzMucnNz/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xNDc1NjY4MQ==

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soccernostalgia-talk-podcast/id1601074369?i=1000650285870






















June 2, 1993-Norway v. England, World Cup Qualifier

 

The state of the England National Team already appeared dire when they traveled to Oslo in June 1993 for a World Cup Qualifier.

England had endured a disappointing three years under Manager Graham Taylor.

In contrast, Egil Olsen’s Norway were on the rise. When the draw for the 1994 World Cup qualifiers was made, most observers would have made England and the Dutch as favorites to qualify from this Group 2.

No one could have anticipated the progress of Norway under Olsen.

Norway’s qualification campaign had been impressive. They had defeated the Dutch in Oslo in September 1992 and earned a tie (1-1) at Wembley against England in the following month.

England were under pressure after they dropped another point at home in April 1993 against the Dutch (2-2 tie).

 

Photo From: Official Match Programme, Norway v England, 1993




Photo From: Official Match Programme, Norway v England, 1993

(Egil Olsen and Graham Taylor)


Therefore, this match in June at Oslo was make or break for both teams. A Norway victory would all but assure World Cup qualification, while England desperately needed a victory to have any chance of qualification.

 

Just days before this match, on May 29th at Chorzów, England had come away with a tie (1-1) against Poland, at a time when only a win would have been acceptable to narrow the gap.

Norway were incidentally bolstered by a few players plying their trade in the nascent English Premier League including Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt, Oldham Athletic’s Gunnar Halle, and Liverpool’s Stig Inge Bjørnebye.

They had caught the eyes of English clubs and had adapted with relative ease to their new surroundings.

 

Photo From: Magazine source unknown

(Norway squad, June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)


The sides faced off on June 2nd, 1993, at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion.

Taylor had decided to give Paul Gascoigne a free role behind the front three, but it did not work. England were a team without direction that night and in the end the result was not a surprise. From the start, Norway looked sharper, eager to win at home.

During the first half, Norway had as much as 9 corners compared to none for England.

By the end of the match the consensus was that Norway should have had more goals.

In the 42nd minute, Norway took the lead through future Wimbledon and Liverpool player Øyvind Leonhardsen. On a quick free kick on the right side, Halle passed to Jan Aage Fjørtoft who passed across to the left to Leonhardsen to score.

England had to get back in the second half, but Norway dealt the killer blow early in this half.

In the 48th minute, Mykland sent a long pass to Leonhardsen on the left side, he sent Bohinen through who scored from a narrow angle.

 

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2491, January 4, 1994

(Paul Gascoigne, June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



Photo From: France Football, Issue 2461, June 8, 1993

(June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



Egil Olsen stated, “England are not known for giving up before the final whistle sounds, but that is what they did”.

During the preparations, Egil Olsen felt confident that his group was ready to win this match and early in the match, he said he knew they could win.

Norway had won convincingly and were now in a strong position to qualify for their first World Cup since 1938.

The following week (June 9th), they earned a scoreless tie at Holland to not only guarantee qualification but to win the group outright.

 

Photo From: World Soccer, May 1994

(Norway players celebrating with exchanged England kits, June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



Photo From: World Soccer, September 1993

(Paul Gascoigne with exchanged Norway kit, June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



Photo From: Guerin Sportivo, No 23 (949), June 9-15, 1993

(June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



Photo From: Goal, Issue 9, June 1996

(Carlton Palmer, June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



For England, this was only the beginning of a nightmarish Summer as they would be disappointing in the US Cup Tournament weeks later (losing to the United States (0-2) along the way).

Despite his defiance to remain in his post, Taylor’s days were numbered, while this Norway squad’s adventure was just beginning.

He did acknowledge tactical errors by deploying a (3-4-3 formation) and did not offer excuses.

The English Newspaper’s ‘The Sun’’s headline read ‘Norse Manure’.

 

This 1993 match against England marked the 1990s Norway generation. It was a reference point for this Norwegian side that they could achieve greater things.

Despite its historical significance, the September 1981 win over England did not yield any further progress.

More and more players would find their way to the English Premier League. In fact, from this group on that day all but four players (Rune Bratseth, Erik Mykland, Goran Sørloth, Kjetil Rekdal) would end up playing in the English League.

This team would write one of the most memorable pages of Norwegian Football History.

 

Photo From: Soccer America, Vol. 44, No. 23, Issue 1113, June 21, 1993

(June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)



 

Photo From: England, The Complete Post-War Record, Author Mike Payne

(June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)


Photo From: France Football, Issue 2461, June 8, 1993

(June 2, 1993, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 2-England 0)


 

Photo From: Official Match Programme, Norway v England, 1993

(Norway Players)


Date: June 2, 1993

Competition: FIFA World Cup Qualifier-UEFA, Group 2

Result: Norway 2-England 0

Venue: Oslo- Ullevaal Stadion

Attendance: 22,590

Referee: Sandor Puhl (Hungary)

Linesmen: S.Szilagyi and L. Varga (both Hungary)

Goalscorers:

(Norway): Øyvind Leonhardsen 42, Lars Bohinen 48

(England): None

Summary of goals:

1:0 (42nd minute, Norway): On a quick free kick on the right side, Halle passed to Jan Aage Fjørtoft who passed across to the left to Leonhardsen to score.

2:0 (48th minute, Norway): From the middle, Mykland sent a long pass to Leonhardsen on the left, he sent Bohinen through who scored from a narrow angle.

Lineups:

Norway:

1-Erik Thorstvedt (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London / England)

2-Gunnar Halle (Oldham Athletic Football Club / England)

3-Tore Pedersen (Brann Sportsklubben- Bergen)

4-Rune Bratseth (Sport Verein Werder Bremen von 1899 e.V. / Germany) (14-Roger Nilsen (Viking Fotballklubb- Stavanger) 82)

5-Stig Inge Bjørnebye (Liverpool Football Club / England)

6-Jostein Flo (Sogndal Idrettslag Fotball - Sogn og Fjordane) 

7-Erik Mykland (Start Idrettsklubben- Kristiansand)

8-Øyvind Leonhardsen (Rosenborg Ballklub- Trondheim)  

9-Jan Aage Fjørtoft (Sportklub Rapid Wien / Austria) (16-Goran Sørloth (Rosenborg Ballklub- Trondheim) 57)

10-Kjetil Rekdal (Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring /Belgium)     

11-Lars Bohinen (Lillestrøm Sportsklubb- Skedsmo)

 

Coach: Egil Olsen

Booked: Gunnar Halle 61

Other Substitutes:

12-Einar Rossbach (Lyn Ski- og Fotballklubben-Oslo)

15-Jan Ove Pedersen (Lillestrøm Sportsklubb- Skedsmo) 

13-Kare Ingebrigtsen (Manchester City Football Club / England)

 

Team Captain: Rune Bratseth 

Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas

Uniform Colors: Red Shirts, White Shorts, Black Socks

 

England:

1- Christopher Charles Eric Woods (Sheffield Wednesday Football Club)

2- Lee Michael Dixon (Arsenal Football Club-London)

4- Carlton Lloyd Palmer (Sheffield Wednesday Football Club)

6- Anthony Alexander Adams (Arsenal Football Club-London)

5- Desmond Sinclair Walker (Unione Calcio Sampdoria-Genova / Italy) (12-Nigel Howard Clough (Nottingham Forest Football Club) 63)

3- Gary Andrew Pallister (Manchester United Football Club) 

11- Lee Stuart Sharpe (Manchester United Football Club)

7- David Andrew Platt (Juventus Football Club-Torino / Italy)

8- Paul John Gascoigne (Società Sportiva Lazio-Roma / Italy)

9- Leslie Ferdinand (Queens Park Rangers Football Club-London)

10- Edward Paul ‘Teddy’ Sheringham (Tottenham HotspurFootball Club-London) (16-Ian Edward Wright (Arsenal Football Club-London) 46)

 

Coach: Graham Taylor

Other Substitutes:

13-David Andrew Seaman (Arsenal Football Club-London)

14- David Batty (Leeds United Association Football Club)

15- Andrew Sinton (Queen's Park Rangers Football Club-London)

 

Team Captain: David Platt

Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Umbro

Uniform Colors: White Shirts, Navy Blue Shorts, White Socks





References:

England, The Complete Post-War Record, Author Mike Payne

France Football, Issue 2461, June 8, 1993

Soccer America, Vol. 44, No. 23, Issue 1113, June 21, 1993

World Soccer, May 1994 

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