World Cup – Paco is criticized for his dismissal at the opening of the World Cup in Norway. Now he's coming back

NORWAY U20 – URUGUAY U20 1-3:
LODZ (Nettavisen): Norway finally lost 1 to 3 at the opening of the World Cup against Uruguay on Friday night.

Norway started the fight badly, but delivered a second round that should be good for the continuation of the championship.

Before the break, when Norway was down with two goals and all the rest of the end, critics began to come from some parts of Football Norway against the choice of the national team's leading team Pål Arne "Paco" Johansen.

– You do not want to give priority to players of the form

Viking player Jonny Furdal is not quite objective, but on Twitter, he advocated that the classic player and teammate Kristian Thorstvedt should have had the chance from the start.

"He's in the shape of a rifle and probably should have started," Furdal wrote.

– Well, what should he do? It is then wild that we do not give priority to form players, replied Eurosport football expert Joacim Jonsson.

Kenneth Fredheim, television profile, also voiced a negative opinion on Friday's starter's choice by the national team's leadership.

– Of course the Norwegian law against Uruguay. Håkon Evjen was very good right in Bodø. Without a doubt the best offensive. Left back here. Tobias Børkeeiet stop at the center. Secure ball center and winner at Stabæk. Fredheim wrote the designer Thorstvedt on the bench.

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Answer the criticism

After the match, Pål Arne "Paco" Johansen had the opportunity to counter the critics.

He responds like this when Nettavisen asks him to explain the choices of Evjen to the left, Børkeeiet in a sort of blocking role and Thorstvedt's denial:

– Børkeeiet has always played this role, we progressed in the middle when we went to the 4-4-2 in the second round, it is quite normal for him. Maybe we should have played like that from the beginning, but we played a few games in a row without having to score goals. So I thought it was natural to start like this, he told Nettavisen.

He says that Uruguay has recently lost a fight against Ukraine, a team that plays the same way as Norway and with five lagging behind.

– They fought a lot against a fifth behind this fight. There was a bit of evaluation behind, but when we needed goals and they dropped with if Many players and tried to keep the ball, we changed for stronger pressure and we managed, said Johansen.

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He pleads for the choice of Evjen as follows:

– There is a bit of risk and gain, we were hoping to get more into the game of attack than we would lose in the defense game, in this fight it became a bit of both, said Johansen.

– Great offensive contributed

The devil was really huge on his left side in the first place. Uruguay led all of their offensive games against this team, and a good guy, Brian Rodriguez, did almost as he would with the Glimt player before resting.

– I think a lot will fight Rodriguez, he's a good player. I think Evjen is much raised in the second half, when he has well controlled it. And I think Håkon has contributed to a fantastic offensive, said the manager of the national team.

– Why did you choose Evjen rather than Kitolano?

– That's because I think it's more twisted in the game of attack. He showed it here. It was a tough match, but to get out of the group, we have to win at least one game and then we have to score goals. We want to play football in a positive way. Then we have to have those who are very strong in the game of attack on the field, says Johansen.

The choice to start with the form player Kristian Thorstvedt on the bench, he pleads for:

– He's here first of all and I think we have a lot of good tigers and spits here. He came and was both, and I think that starting with Erling at the top and the other two links was right. Also, he arrived late here, and he was quick to fight on artificial turf in Molde, and one might wonder if he was ready for 90 minutes today. We will look further, it is an important player in the team and we will stay here a while. It's probably coming more and more, indeed, says Paco.

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Against Uruguay, the margins were not on the side of Norway. While Norway earned a canceled score after a delicate offside, Uruguay broke the score at 1-0.

– The score of three chances out of four

In addition, Norway created two huge chances in the second half, both of which resulted in a Uruguayan player who slipped the ball just in front of his goal. With a little luck, both could end up scoring.

– The fact that we are there and that it is margin to a good team like Uruguay is certainly something to build on, Paco told Nettavisen.

He thinks that the efficiency and the flow have been decisive this time.

– They did well on three of four occasions, but international football is what it is. I think we got a little closer towards the end of the first round, and especially in the second round, and I think we are very close and deserve points. But they are fatally effective, says Paco.

There are now two group games for Norway. The next opponent is New Zealand on Monday. This match is also played in Lodz, before the end of the group stage with the settlement against Honduras in Lublin on Thursday 30 May.

New Zealand won the second match of the Norwegian group with a 5-0 win on Friday night.

– I was right to say that it was easy to underestimate them. It's a good team and I'm not surprised that they won, but it was a big win in the opening match. They surely come with a lot of confidence and know that they have to score against us if they want to move on because they could expect Uruguay to be the hardest of them. opponents. We and we are both in a situation where we have to have points in this game. It will be a difficult and tight match that we will start preparing for when we get back to the hotel, "Johansen told Nettavisen.

The two best of the group as well as the top four of the six trios move to the eighth finals.

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