England 1-0 Norway: Three Lions labour to friendly win
- adamhigginsuk
- Sep 3, 2014
- 4 min read
WAYNE Rooney’s second-half penalty gave England an underwhelming victory over Norway in their first outing since the dismal World Cup campaign.
The newly-appointed captain confidently dispatched the 68th minute spotkick after the impressive Raheem Sterling was brought down in the box by Omar Elabdellaoui.
In front of the lowest attendance for an international since Wembley re-opened in 2007, England dominated the first half without creating many clear-cut chances.
And the sparse crowd of 40,181 were barely encouraged as Norway improved after the break with Josh King’s header producing a fine save from goalkeeper Joe Hart.
After the disappointment of June’s early group stage exit in Brazil, which resulted in a fall to 20th place in the world rankings, Roy Hodgson will be pleased to return to winning ways with a first victory in six matches.
But the Three Lions coach, who began his tenure with a 1-0 friendly win over Norway in May 2012, will demand better from his new-look side when their Euro 2016 qualification campaign begins in earnest against Switzerland on Monday.
The friendly fixture offered the opportunity for the national team to regain the faith of the British public and rebuild their squad following another failed performance at a major tournament.
Hodgson named Manchester United forward Rooney as the new skipper following the retirement of experienced midfield duo Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard and called up four uncapped players although three were named on the bench with Newcastle’s Jack Colback withdrawing through injury.
Five of the line-up were aged 22 or under, including Everton defender John Stones, who made his full debut at right-back and was the only starter not to figure in the 23-man World Cup squad.
Leighton Baines, the oldest player in the starting XI at the age of 30, curled a free-kick over the crossbar inside four minutes as England sought to make an early impression.
The Scandinavian visitors, who had failed to win any of their previous 11 internationals, sat deep in numbers to frustrate the Three Lions, who illustrated much of the attacking intent throughout a low-key first half.
Daniel Sturridge dovetailed superbly with Liverpool team-mate Sterling before his tame shot was brilliantly blocked by former Southampton defender Vegard Forren.
Phil Jones then drifted a header wide of the post from an inswinging corner by Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who missed the World Cup finals with knee ligament damage.
The promising tempo of England’s forward-thinking approach gave the defensive-minded Norwegians plenty to think about.
Sturridge again linked up effectively with Sterling, who lofted a defence-splitting pass over the top, but his lobbed effort landed on the roof of the net as keeper Orjan Nyland rushed out to meet him.
A 25-yard shot from Hoffenheim’s Tarik Elyounoussi, which Joe Hart comfortably kept out, was the only moment of note for Norway, who were forced into a first-half change as the injured Martin Linnes made way for Per Egil Flo.
England could have been awarded a penalty five minutes before the break when Jack Wilshere advanced into the box and appeared to be tripped by ex-Arsenal centre-back Harvard Nordtveit but Portuguese referee Manuel de Sousa ignored the muted appeals.
Norway started the second period brightly and almost snatched the lead on two occasions when King’s header from six yards was clawed away by the athletic Hart, who also stood firm to deny the Blackburn striker’s cross-cum-shot after he escaped the attentions of Jones and Gary Cahill.
Per-Mathias Hogmo’s side were dealt a blow when Cardiff forward Mats Moeller Daelhi was stretchered from the field with an ankle problem just before the hour mark but continued to grow in confidence.
Amid the subdued atmosphere, the insipid Three Lions struggled to find any fluency or rhythm but were handed the opportunity to break the deadlock midway through the half from the spot.
Sterling was sent sprawling by Omar Elabdellaoui and Rooney made no mistake with a no-nonsense spotkick to become England’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 41 international goals.
It was Rooney’s final contribution before handing the armband over to Cahill as, despite taking the lead, Hodgson acknowledged the need for personnel changes and introduced three players, including debutant Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph.
Another of the new arrivals almost made an instant impact as Danny Welbeck, fresh from his £16 million move from Manchester United to Arsenal on Monday, saw a powerful angled drive beaten away by Nyland at the near post.
England injected some intensity and urgency to restore order after a tense spell as Norway’s resurgence was nipped in the bud.
Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson fired Sterling’s cutback over from 18 yards and Celtic midfielder Stefan Johansen made a fine recovery challenge to divert England substitute James Milner’s shot wide.
England made a raft of substitutions late on with Arsenal’s 19-year-old defender Calum Chambers receiving his first cap from the bench while Phil Jagielka and Rickie Lambert also made brief cameo appearances as Cahill went off with a foot problem which required ice.
The changes largely disrupted the action’s flow as the Three Lions played out the closing stages with a degree of caution to hold onto the lead before the final whistle was greeted with minimal response from the near-empty terraces.
Attention now switches to Basel’s St Jakob-Park, the scene of England’s first match on a journey to the European Championships in France which is expected to convince fans that progress is being made.
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