Posts Tagged Football
Norway beat Brazil in the World Cup
Posted by admin in Photos and videos, Sport on June 25, 2010
Back in 1998 
Footage of that match in Marseille, France, when Norway famously beat Brazil 2-1 after a penalty by Kjetil Rekdal put them in the lead.
About Norwegian football
Football fever is upon us, and regardless of what team you support, it seems football is the conversation topic of choice just now (or should that be the ‘only’ conversation topic?). Anyway… Norway’s not in the World Cup this year, but here a few footie facts you might or might not know about this country:
- The Norwegian national football team played its first international in 1908. Its home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. Norway took part in the FIFA World Cup three times in its history, in 1938, 1994 and 1998. They only played in the European Championship once, in 2000.
- The national team’s hour of glory was their beating Brazil in the 1998 World Cup in Marseille, France, after Kjetil Rekdal fired a decisive penalty into the back of the net. They proceeded to the second round, but lost their first match (against Italy) and went out of the competition.
- There are a total of 1,800 football clubs in Norway (amateur and professional), with over 280,000 players.
- Norwegian players to have achieved a degree of fame abroad include John Arne Riise, a Liverpool player for several years before he moved on to play in Italy, Ole Gunnar Solskjær (known as Manchester United’s ‘baby-faced assassin’) and Tore André Flo, who played for Chelsea, among other clubs.
- The Norwegian Premier League (unofficially known as the Eliteserien) is the top competition in Norway.
- Most successful Norwegian clubs in recent years include Brann (Bergen), who won in 2007; Stabæk (Bærum), who came top in 2008; and Rosenborg (Trondheim) who accumulated an impressive 13 consecutive titles between 1992-2004, and also got gold in 2006 and 2009.
- Women football is big in Norway, with some 110,000 registered members. There are 12 clubs playing in the top division, and 12 in the first division.
- Norway hosts the world’s largest football tournament for children and young people, the Norway Cup, every year in August. The tournament, which dates back to 1972, is hugely popular – in 2009 it attracted some 30,000 participants, with 1,371 teams from 49 countries.
Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (FFK)
Mad about football? Then you’ve come to the right place. Founded in 1903, Østfold’s most famous football team, FFK (Fredrikstad Fotballklubb), has had its ups and downs over the years, but it remains one of the most successful teams in Norway, with 9 league championship and 11 Norwegian cup wins to its name. Fredrikstad supporters flock to the new stadium, inaugurated in 2007 and housed in a former shipyard by the Glomma, every time FFK plays on home ground, and they paint the town red – literally. FFK colours were (oddly enough) officially given to the club by the Polish Football Association at their own request back in 1927, and have not changed since – the kit is white and red, after the Polish flag. Read more about FFK at www.fredrikstadfk.no/en/
