England take on Norway in the World Cup quarter-finals on Monday, with the Three Lions set to face a number of familiar faces, including Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland.
Martin Odegaard talks about the match between Norway and England (Image: Getty Images)
Martin Odegaard aims to use his Premier League experience to stake a claim for England as the new scalp of the World Cup shock. Norway will play the Three Lions in Miami on Saturday night, with the winner qualifying for the semi-finals.
The game will also bring together a number of familiar faces, with Odegaard and Erling Haaland set to take on club team-mates and domestic rivals.
And Norway captain Odegaard is hoping to use that familiarity to his advantage as the Scandinavian side aim to reach the last four.
Ahead of Saturday’s match, he said: “Of course we know their quality, we know them really well.
“It’s going to be a big test for us because we have good players, world-class players playing for probably one of the best national teams in the world at the moment.
“But I think it was the same with Brazil. We were the underdogs and, as you can see, you never know what can happen in football. So, yeah, we’re going to hang in there and see what we can do and look forward to it.”
“It’s true that a lot of us play in England so we know them well. Of course we’ve played against a lot of them in the league so we know them, but it’s about the team as a whole.”
“We have to prepare, we have to analyze the opponent as always and we have to believe in ourselves.”
Norway has enjoyed a dream-like run so far, finishing second in their group behind France and advancing to the quarter-finals. They also had impressive wins against Ivory Coast and especially against Brazil.
England need to keep an eye on Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard (Image: Getty Images)
And Odegaard and his friends. Having enjoyed playing underdogs, he warned that England remained a threatening team. He added: “I think we showed the whole world that we are a good team and like I said, anything is possible in football and even if we are the underdogs again, let’s see what happens.”
“Let’s prepare well and continue to enjoy our soccer and this moment together. Let’s take a look.”
One threat that England definitely need to be aware of is Haaland, who excelled in his first World Cup appearance. The Manchester City forward has already scored seven goals, two of which came in the win against Brazil.
The winner between England and Norway will qualify for Wednesday’s semi-final in Atlanta, where they will face either Argentina or Switzerland.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
