Squad for the WC qualifier against Scotland

Egil "Drillo" Olsen has presented his squad for the upcoming match against Scotland. Norway has a very tiny chance of qualifying, but only if they win every single of the three last matches.

Goalkeepers:
Rune A. Jarstein (Rosenborg)
Jon Knudsen (Stabæk)

Outfield players:
John Carew (Aston Villa)
Christian Grindheim (Heerenveen)
Brede Hangeland (Fulham)
Bjørn Helge Riise (Fulham)
Thorstein Helstad (Le Mans)
Kjetil Wæhler (AaB)
Daniel Braaten (Toulouse)
Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn)
John Arne Riise (Roma)
Espen Ruud (OB)
Henning Hauger (Stabæk)
Erik Huseklepp (Brann)
Tom Høgli (Tromsø)
Steffen Iversen (Rosenborg)
Tore Reginiussen (Tromsø)
Per Ciljan Skjelbred (Rosenborg)
Fredrik Winsnes (Strømsgodset)
Trond Erik Bertelsen (Viking)
Simen Brenne (Odd Grenland)

Håvard Nordtveit to Nürnberg

The Norwegian defender Håvard Nordtveit will go on loan to the German team Nürnberg. The 19 year old is under contract with Arsenal, but has played for Lillestrøm the last five months to get more first team experience.

19th round

Aalesund 1-1 Fredrikstad

26th of July: Results

Vålerenga 0-3 Odd
Vålerenga's biggest loss at home since 2003.
Viking 5-2 Lyn
Lyn's goal keeper Stramatopoulos played his last match for the Oslo club, next week he will go on loan to Fredrikstad, which means that Stramatopoulos will play against Viking next week as well. Hopefully with a better result, though.
Sandefjord 1-1 Molde
Molde played well, but stumbled, and the dream of winning the league seems far away.
Brann 4-2 Bodø/Glimt
Another good match by Erik Huseklepp, but he claims that he isn't thinking about a possible transfer. Bodø/Glimt was not pleased with the penalty that gave Brann the 1-0 lead. "No-one in yellow understands why it is a penalty, but that's how it is to play at Brann Stadion," was Kåre Ingebrigtsen's comment after the match.

Tromsø 2-1 Strømsgodset
Rushfelt was involved in this comic penalty:

But got his revenge with this great goal:


Rosenborg 2-1 Lillestrøm
Rosenborg was the better team, but needed a penalty to score the winning goal.




All goals from the 19th round so far:


Tonight: Aalesund - Fredrikstad

Start 2-2 Stabæk

The visitors from Bærum were up by two with just five minutes left to play when Start scored two goals in two minutes, 2-2 was a fair results for both teams as Start had a good first half and Stabæk had a good second half.

Apart from that the terrible back-pass from Petter Bruer Hanssen (and the following save by Kenneth Høie) and Bent Hulsker's horrible new mustache are both worth noticing in the highlights below. Plus the lovely lady celebrating the first Start goal.

Team: Stabæk

If you don't count their debut season in the top division in 1995, or the year when they were relegated, in 2004, Stabæk has never finished Tippeligaen below 6th place. The last two years they've won silver and gold in the league and they also played in the cup final of 2008, but lost to Vålerenga.


Stabæk is known for playing attacking and attractive football. In 2008 they scored 58 goals in 26 matches.

Alanzinho, 9 goals,
Veigar Páll Gunnarsson, 10 goals,
Johan Andersson, 12 goals
Daniel Nannskog, 16 goals

Before the 2009 season they sold both Alanzinho and Gunnarsson, but borrowed the Japanese midfielder Daigo Kobayashi from Omiya Ardija, a player that has meant a lot for them so far, and has almost managed to fill the gap after the two players.

Telenor Arena, an indoor stadium with a capacity of 15000, was finished before this season, and is now the home ground of Stabæk

Norwegian Teams in Europe: results

Stabæk 4-0 Tirana. Stabæk had no problems against the Albanians. Daigo Kobayashi had three assists, the central defender Pontus Segerström scored two goals, Fredrik Berglund and Pontus Farnerud scored one each, and Stabæk is now ready to meet the Danish side FC Kopenhagen in the next round.

(http://theballisround.co.uk was present at Telenor Arena, and has written a longer post about the match. Read it here)

Qarabakh 1-0 Rosenborg. A wonderous free kick by Rashed Sadigov made Rosenborg's face their first loss of the season and they are now knocked out of the Europe League.

Tromsø 4-1 Dinamo Minsk. Tromsø had a 1-0 at half time, but no control of the match, Dinamo Minsk had had several chances, however, in the 65th minute Stanislav Prahun was sent of after his second yellow card, and the match exploded, Tromsø scored three more goals, Dinamo Minsk scored one and had another player sent off.
Tromsø will play Slaven Belupo from Croatia next Thursday