Arlington, July 1 (IANS) After leading the way for the Norwegians to their first knockout victory in the FIFA World Cup, Erling Haaland was all smiles and said, ‘Everything is a bonus”, noting his side’s first World Cup qualification in 28 years and moving past the group stage.

Haaland carried on his World Cup scoring streak with the late goal that secured a 2-1 win over Cote d’Ivoire and put his country into the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1998.

“It’s history, it feels unbelievable,” said Haaland. “We managed to qualify for the first time in 28 years, we managed to go through the group stage and now we’ve managed to go through to the next round and meet Brazil in New York. It’s incredible, so now everything is a bonus. Now we can play with our shoulders down and just enjoy it because I don’t think we’ll ever have this feeling again.”

The Ivorians did well to keep the Norway danger man under wraps for much of the contest, but Haaland ended the resistance of a Cote d’Ivoire side who had fought back into the game through Amad Diallo’s splendid second-half equaliser, ensuring it is Stale Solbakken’s side who advance to a meeting with Brazil in New York/New Jersey on July 6.

For Norway coach Stale Solbakken, his team’s ability to close things out made the difference on a day in which the margins were razor-thin.

“I think it was a very even game,” the Norway coach told FIFA. “These are two good teams and it could have gone both ways, but we finished off the game strongly today and managed to come back after the 1-1. They had a good free kick towards the end and situations in which they could have scored.

“But all in all, I think maybe we were a little bit better than them, but praise for Côte d’Ivoire, who played a very good game. It’s the first time for Norway that we’ve won in the knockout rounds, so we have to take that on board. Now we can rest a little bit and prepare for Brazil,” he added.

–IANS

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