Match Number 50 ITA - NOR Quotes

"First of all, I have to congratulate ITALY for their victory. Of course, I am disappointed for several reasons. We didn't play up to our limit, and I think that if we had done that, we would have beaten ITALY. I'm in fact not very impressed with ITALY either, so it was more because we didn't play well that we lost the match. I'm disappointed.

We came here with a first aim to go through and be among the last 16 and we reached that, but when you are there, you want to go further. In fact we had a good chance today, but our performance was not good and we didn't take advantage of the chances we had in the second half. ITALY was tired and we had a good chance in the last part of the second half.

It's difficult to say whether the hot conditions today affected the performance of our team, but I think the heat affected the Italian team, too, because they looked more tired than us in the last minutes of the game.

I don't regret having maintained my decision to run one sole striker.

If we had qualified for the quarter finals, FRANCE would have been a much more difficult opponent than ITALY. I think that FRANCE are one of the World Cup favourites. I wasn't very impressed by BRAZIL, but at this level there isn't much difference between the teams. If FRANCE qualify for the quarter finals, I would be very surprised if the Italians succeeded in beating them."

 

Frode GRODAS (1), captain:

"There was very little between the two teams. Gianluca PAGLIUCA (12) did a great save. At the end we could have equalised. We've proved that our place in the last sixteen was not wrongfully gained."

Stig BJORNEBYE (5):

"The Italians were very effective because they had very few chances. The heat was hard to cope with. We had good control of the game in midfield, but we were unrealistic in attack."

Stale SOLBAKKEN (6):

"We could have done better. It was a difficult match for our forwards as the Italian defence was very effective. At first we didn't manage to score despite having some good opportunities. For us, to reach the last sixteen was already an achievement, because we are only a small country. We're still going to celebrate."

Oyvind LEONHARDSEN (8):

"I wasn't very impressed by ITALY. They'll find it hard in the quarter finals. I think that we had some openings but we didn't take advantage of them. It's regrettable because we could have won even though ITALY are known for being good at keeping the advantage.

Ole SOLSKJAR (20):

"At this level, it's difficult to equalise when you're one goal down. Especially against a team like ITALY who are very experienced in this type of match. When I came on to the pitch for the match against BRAZIL, we won. Today that didn't work."

Roberto BAGGIO (18):

"We've won and that's the main thing, even if I didn't really get into the game. I don't know if I'll be playing in the next match.

Alessandro DEL PIERO (10) was unfortunate this afternoon, but he'll have other opportunities to show that he's an excellent player."

 

Christian VIERI (21):

"This was quite a difficult match and what's more it was hot. Of course, it's very important to qualify. We played well after the goal I scored. I hope I'll have more chances to score.

The Norwegians had a few opportunities but our defenders were excellent.

ITALY was very good in defence and midfield. After the goal, we invented a way to express our joy with DEL PIERO."

 

Luigi DI BIAGIO (14):

"I didn't feel that NORWAY were capable of equalising during the match, except for Tore Andre FLO's (9) header.

In the quarter final, I think that FRANCE would be a more difficult opponent to beat than PARAGUAY;"

 

Fabio CANNAVARO (4):

"I am used to the kind of overhead battle I had to deal with against Tore Andre FLO (9). Due to his height, I anticipated this. If we come up against FRANCE we will have been used to this type of match in a hostile atmosphere and it would be fantastic to beat them in the quarter final."

 

Alessandro DEL PIERO (10):

"Regarding Roberto BAGGIO's (18) comments about my performance, that doesn't surprise me as he is a very valuable team mate and I appreciate him very much. I made two mistakes, but it wasn't easy playing the Norwegian defence line. It's true that, up to now, it's Christian VIERI's (21) World Cup; the fact that he scored the winning goal makes it easier to forget my mistake. Despite everything, I think I played a good match."

 

"Today, we had a very good match. We didn't run many risks and in one and a half hours, we had several good occasions to score. I think this win was highly deserved.

The NORWAY team was very difficult to beat. In winning this match we obtained a really good result. They had good results up until today, even beating the "giants", Brazil, and that adds to our merit.

The most remarkable thing about the match was the tactical aspect. The Norwegians played tactically well, but we succeeded in stopping them. The goal we scored was very much merited. Without exaggerating, it's a goal that should go down in the history books!

The next 24 hours will be spent relishing this victory. The players will have a half day's very well deserved rest. After that we'll be back into training and we'll see.

With regard to the FRANCE-PARAGUAY match: I don't want to think about it yet, and I've asked my players to do the same."