Scotland were due to play Norway at their training base on Monday night but withdrew two days earlier, sparking an angry reaction from the Norwegian side.
Scotland cancel friendly match against Norway – prompting angry backlash
Scotland have been criticized as “embarrassing” and “weak” after suddenly withdrawing from a friendly behind closed doors against Norway.
The match between the two European nations, who are both preparing for their first World Cup appearance in more than 20 years, was scheduled to be played at Scotland’s training base in Charlotte.
The match, which had been scheduled for several weeks, was due to take place on Monday night, but on Saturday Scotland informed Norway that they did not want the match to end. The decision was ultimately made by government officials in each country, not team managers, the Times reported.
The plan was originally arranged by Scottish FA football operations manager Michael Hughes and his Norwegian counterpart, former Fulham defender Brede Hangeland.
The Norwegians said the Scottish side cited injury concerns as the reason, but their anger did not stop as Hangeland and his players also considered calling up the Scottish squad.
“We’ve been working on that game for months. It’s embarrassing to cancel it a few days ago. There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just forget about it and give it our all,” Hangeland said.
“Everything was made clear in the so-called gentleman’s agreement. So I don’t think it was particularly gentlemanly to cancel on such short notice. But this is beyond our control. We have no choice but to deal with it. All of a sudden they don’t want to play. It was very weak.”
Atletico Madrid striker Alexander Soros added: “It’s really disappointing and completely unprofessional for Scotland.”
John McGinn defended Scotland’s decision (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
Scotland ace John McGinn hit back, claiming Norway would have done the same had they been in a similar situation with injuries. “Our job is to look after Scotland. Norway’s job is to look after Norway.”
“And if they did the research, we lost a very important part of our team, right here in this camp. It had a huge impact on everyone. We didn’t want to lose another one.”
Scotland issued a statement expressing their “regret” at having to cancel the friendly, insisting: “When it became clear that there had been injuries during previous friendlies and that a practice match would pose greater risks than the rewards of preparation, we informed the Norwegian team manager as soon as possible.”
“We believe this was the correct and consistent process. Also, the match was scheduled to be played behind closed doors and was not announced publicly. So we were surprised when news of the match broke through the Norwegian media.”
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