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.
Listen on Spotify / Google
Podcasts / Apple Podcasts:
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) |
_832x449.jpg) |
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.
_1661x1187.jpg){kind=spacer} |
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) |
,%20June%209-15,%201993_3579x3468.jpg) |
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.
_2208x2888.jpg) |
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) |
.jpg) |
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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