New Jersey, June 23 (IANS) Norway head coach Stale Solbakken praised Erling Haaland after the striker scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Senegal on Tuesday, but said he would make changes for his side’s final World Cup group match against France.

Haaland has scored four goals in Norway’s opening two matches, having also netted a brace in its 4-1 win over Iraq.

“He missed an open goal today, so he could have scored even more. He is one of the best strikers in the world. He is not playing for France or Argentina. He is scoring goals for Norway,” Solbakken said after the match as quoted by Xinhua.

Haaland’s double helped Norway establish a 3-1 lead, but Senegal pulled a goal back and subjected the European side to sustained pressure in the closing stages.

Solbakken described the final 10 minutes as among the longest of his life, with several Norwegian players struggling physically.

“Four or five of our players had cramps,” he said. “For a period, we were effectively playing with only nine or 10 players, and there was also a clearance off the line. It was a nightmare,” he said.

The Norway coach said his team had controlled much of the match, but lost its grip after Senegal reduced the deficit to 3-2.

“That was the only period of the game when I felt we did not have control,” he said. “We could not stop the crosses, and we were suffering physically,” he added.

Despite the nervy finish, Solbakken was satisfied with Norway’s overall display against a Senegal side he described as one of Africa’s strongest teams.

“If we had played only slightly worse, we would have been in trouble,” he said. “We beat a very good team with a lot of tournament experience.”

Norway will face France in the final Group I match on Friday. Both teams have won their opening two games and have already secured places in the knockout stage.

Solbakken confirmed that several players would be rested after the physical demands of the Senegal match.

“We will make changes against France,” he said. “It is not because we do not want to beat them, but because we need to put a different team on the pitch.”

He said six or seven players had been close to cramping and that Norway’s travel schedule would add to the recovery challenge.

“We have a very short turnaround, and the players were exhausted at the end of this game,” he said. “Some other players will get their chance,” he said

Solbakken added that Norway had not yet begun detailed preparations for France, with recovery now the immediate priority.

Asked what Norway would need to do to make an impact in the knockout stage, he said: “We have to play as well as we did today. If we do that, we can beat a lot of teams,” he added.

–IANS

sds/