Norway 2 England 1 (1981) – The Night Our Boys Took One Hell Of A Beating
Norway 2 England 1 – World Cup qualifier, Sept 9, 1981:
Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo:
Norway: Tore Antonsen, Bjarne Berntsen, Einar Aas, Åge Hareide, SveinGrøndalen, Anders Giske, Roger Albertsen, Hallvar Thoresen, Arne LarsenØkland (Trond Pedersen 87), Pål Jacobsen, Tom Lund (Arne Dokken 76).
England: Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Mick Mills, Russell Osman, PhilThompson, Bryan Robson, Kevin Keegan, Terry McDermott, Glenn Hoddle(Peter Barnes 61), Trevor Francis, Paul Mariner (Peter Withe 75)
Match Report: “Are you watching Maggie Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Lord Beaverbrook….” on and on goes the commentary from mad Norwegian Bjorn Lillelien. “Your boys took one hell of a beating“. They certainly did.
Ron Greenwood’s England team had gone to Oslo bouyed by an excellent 3-1 away win against Hungary, the eventual group winners in the previous game.
The Norwegian side at that time were much like their Eurovision Song Contest participants. Not quite ‘nil points’ but nevertheless, this was expected to be easy pickings for the highly rated English.
Greenwood had made three changes to his side, with a young Glenn Hoddle replacing the injured Trevor Brooking, Trevor Francis in for Steve Coppell and Russell Osman preferred at the back instead of Dave Watson.
A packed & noisy home stadium witnessed the start that most expected, with England dominant and pressing for an early lead. On 14 minutes, their possession was rewarded with a goal by Bryan Robson, who bundled in from close range after a flick on by Kevin Keegan.
All was going to plan, the crowd was quietened, and England started to control the game, but never really threatening to overrun the Norwegians. England perhaps took it a little too easy, expectant of the cushion of a second goal. This allowed Norway to build in confidence, and when the equaliser came in the 34th minute, it was not against the run of play.
A corner from Tom Lund was blocked, with the ball returning to him for a second bite at the cherry. This time the cross was deflected past the England ‘keeper Clemence, seemingly by Roger Albertsen (he would later admit not touching the ball).
The equaliser immediately set the crowd buzzing, and visibly lifted the home side. Within 5 minutes the crowd would be in rapture.
An attempted cross by Arne LarsenØkland was not dealt with by Terry McDermott, and his mistake allowed Hallvar Thoresen to pounce and guide the ball past the outstretched Clemence. In a state of shock, England headed for the dressing room 2-1 down at half time.
England started the second half much as they had done the first, and a leveller seemed to be on the cards. Peter Barnes replaced Hoddle, and started to cause problems and swing in a few crosses. The chances created though were not clear cut, and England were lucky not to go further behind when Clemence made an excellent 1 on 1 save from Pål Jacobsen.
One clear chance fell to Trevor Francis, whose guided header from a Barnes dead ball went agonisingly close. In a desperate attempt to salvage something from the game, Greenwood introduced Withe for Mariner on 75 minutes, but the Norwegians were now defending like Trojans and the chances never came.
A defeated England trudged off the Oslo pitch knowing that qualification for Spain would now be a lot more difficult, in fact it was only Romania’s failure to win any of their last 3 games that allowed them to qualify in second spot.
The celebrations of the joyous home crowd at the final whistle were only equalled by those of a certain Mr Lillelien who must, surely, have left the stadium with the men in white coats that evening.