Ahead of Malta's final UEFA EURO 2020 European qualifiers commitment against Norway this evening at the National Stadium (kick-off 20:45), Norway head coach Lars Lagerbeck spoke to TMI about his disappointment for his team not to have qualified directly from Group F via the first two places.
Norway though can still qualify though. They will be in the play-offs as UEFA Nations League Group 3 winners.
"I must say that in general, we performed well in this European qualifying campaign, but just like you are saying, we registered 5 draws in our group, enough to miss out on qualification. We lost points in a couple of matches, losing out on for example a 2-0 lead during these matches. Now that we are in the play-offs we definitely have to perform much better in order to qualify. Against Malta it is important that we give another good account of what we can really do and get a good result," stated Lagerbeck.
Upcoming Norwegian starlet Sander Berge, 21, who plays for KRC Genk in Belgium, was full of confidence ahead of the Malta match. "We have to continue over our win against the Faroe Islands, play our game and win the match against Malta by two or three goals," stated Berge.
The two football nations have come across each other eleven times - two draws and nine wins for the Norwegians.