More trouble for Norwegian football

Officials at Fredrikstad Football Club (FFK) admitted that a police raid on its headquarters Tuesday morning was very bad publicity, tarnishing the image of both FFK and the sport in general. The raid came just a week after the offices of two other top Norwegian clubs, Vålerenga and Stabæk, were raided and club officials called [...]

Financial woes plague football

Norwegian football clubs are mired in serious financial trouble that’s forcing major budget cuts, also at several of the country’s top clubs. For them, the decline marks a dive in status and often a painful reality check. Clubs like Vålerenga, Lyn and Stabæk were accustomed to having wealthy “sugar daddies” who generally came forward with [...]

Police question football officials

The sports director at the professional Norwegian football (soccer) club Vålerenga described his brief arrest by police on Wednesday as “uncomfortable” but not necessarily surprising. Truls Haakonsen was among officials at Vålerenga and rival club Stabæk who were questioned Tuesday in connection with the controversial transfer of player Veigar Páll Gunnarsson. The transfer controversy, first [...]

Drillo hunts for new talent

It all started out so well, in 2009, for returning national football (soccer) coach Egil “Drillo” Olsen. His men’s team was on a roll for most of last year and seemed to be serious contenders to play in next year’s European Championships (Euro 2012). Lots went wrong in 2011, though, and now Drillo is already [...]

Thousands cheer Aalesund’s victory

Around 10,000 football fans filled the streets of the west coast city of Ålesund Sunday night to welcome home their returning heroes, after Aalesund’s Football Club won the Norwegian cup final in Oslo earlier in the day. They beat Brann of Bergen by a score of 2-1. “This was a fantastic presentation by my players, [...]

Solskjær in the spotlight

Norwegian football legend Ole Gunnar Solskjær could really take on the role of hero over the weekend, after leading the Molde Football Club to its first league championship ever, in his own first season as Molde’s coach. The former Manchester United star claimed last week, though, that he has no intention of quickly turning around [...]

Football scandal hits clubs Stabæk and Vålerenga

Two top Norwegian football (soccer) clubs and three of their leaders are suspected of fraud in connection with the highly controversial sale of player Veigar Páll Gunnarsson from Stabæk to Vålerenga for NOK 1 million. The clubs face large fines, while the men involved may be excluded from all football for a year or more. [...]

Norway win ends Euro 2012 campaign

The Norwegian national football team (landslaget) completed their nearly successful European Championships 2012 (‘Euro 2012′) qualifying campaign with a 3-1 win in Oslo against Cyprus on Tuesday night. Norway’s fate in the qualification rounds was all but sealed before the game kicked-off – landslaget came into the game needing to win and score a huge [...]

Drillo disappointed but game goes on

Norway’s national football coach Egil “Drillo” Olsen admitted to being disappointed that his team won’t be able to play in the European Championships after all, since Portugal and Denmark won their qualifying matches over the weekend. As far he’s concerned, though, the game is definitively not over. Drillo woke up Saturday to predictable headlines in [...]

Match shaken by heart failure

Sunday’s match between men’s football (soccer) clubs Sogndal and Brann of Bergen took a dramatic turn when one of Brann’s players suddenly collapsed on the field because of heart failure. Carl-Erik (“Calle”) Torp, age 26, was carried off the field on a stretcher and treated with heart-starter equipment in the locker room before being flown [...]

Women’s soccer overlooked

While Norway’s national football (soccer) team for men gets massive media attention, the women’s national squad can often seem overlooked. Now they’re hoping for more attention when they play their next match in the run-up to the European championships. Not even a 6-0 victory over Hungary last week brought the women’s national team much more [...]

Norway’s Euro 2012 dream in tatters

Norway’s national football team (landslaget) was easily beaten 2-0 by Nordic rivals Denmark on Tuesday night in Copenhagen, leaving its chances of qualifying for the European Championships in 2012 (‘Euro 2012′) looking very slim indeed. The team’s qualifying credentials were reaffirmed with a 1-0 win in Oslo against Iceland on Friday, but the Scandinavian grudge [...]

Few can watch big match at home

As Norwegians warmed up for one of the biggest national football matches of the year on Tuesday evening, complaints were rising that very few of them would be able to watch it at home. Now the government is making moves to keep such matches away from the strictly pay-TV stations. Tuesday’s match between the national [...]

Carew saves Norway to beat Iceland

The Norwegian national football team (landslaget) left it until the 88th minute to beat Iceland in their crucial European Championships qualifying match in Oslo on Friday night – with the arrival of veteran striker John Carew late in the game inspiring the team to a precious if unimpressive 1-0 win. As the game seemed to [...]

Norwegians have faith in their team

As Norway’s national football team (landslaget) got ready for another important match Friday night, a new public opinion poll indicated that half the population has faith in their pro-football players and thinks they will qualify for European championship action. The poll conducted by research firm Respons for newspaper Aftenposten showed that 48 percent of Norwegians [...]

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