– It’s a real shame that a strong away form for Norway was marred here in terms of results by us breaking it out, said NRK football pundit Carl-Erik Torp.

Norway fought bravely for a long time and had some great chances, but Spain were effective and ended up winning 3-0.

– It will be a slightly worse experience than the feeling. We let them in too easily at the end there, so it’s going to be worse than it has to be,” Martin Ødegaard told TV 2.

After the break, Norway chased for an equaliser, creating chance after chance. But towards the end of the game, things will go dark. Two quick scores from Joselu marked the match completely.

– We have more and bigger opportunities than I thought. The fact that we couldn’t take advantage of either of them, provided it was 1-0, was actually a bit disappointing the way the game developed, Torp believes.

Strong reaction

There were two early cold showers for Ståle Solbakken’s men. First, Dani Olmo put the hosts ahead after just 13 minutes, and soon afterwards a situation emerged that “everyone” is talking about now:

After Ødegaard opened fire, the drammenser was caught hard behind by Rodri. Too difficult, according to experts.

– He was able to finish, but he was injured after he shot. Really kicked. Then there must be a penalty, commented NRK expert Carl-Erik Torp.

– I think it’s very ugly, he added.

Ødegaard was also visibly frustrated by the decision.

– He came up with the knob right on my ankle so I thought it was a punishment.

– What do you think of the judge?

– I can’t talk about him, said Ødegaard, clearly irritated.

Former supreme judge Per Ivar Staberg was clear in his assessment:

– Clearly a penalty, he wrote in a message to NRK and also believes a yellow card should have been shown to Rodri for a “reckless tackle”.

Reactions flowed according to the situation.

– There is absolutely no chance that a penalty will not be awarded there! Now I understand nothing, wrote former goalkeeper Ole Martin Årst on Twitter.

– Norway should have earned a penalty when Ødegaard was “plowed” in the 16-metre area, TV 2 pundit Jesper Mathisen concluded.

– Clear punishment. Norway is cheating, said Rosenborg trainer Kjetil Rekdal at the VGTV studio.

The TV audience was not given any information that the VAR (video referee) was assessing the situation, but complied UEFA VAR concluded that it was not a penalty kick.

Assistant national team coach Kent Bergersen said they were looking at the situation at half-time.

– We think that looks pretty obvious, he told TV 2.

Great opportunity for Norway

Norway gave a very good first half, despite the fact that there were no penalties or goals. The guests have been very close on several occasions. The closest was Fredrik Aursnes, who volleyed.

Solbakken’s men secured a real grip early in round 2. After ten minutes of Norwegian dominance, Marcus Holmgren Pedersen had only chance to equalize, but his shot, which was fired through Nacho, was narrowly blocked by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

As you know, the two best teams in the group that go straight to EC in Germany 2024. Spain was expected to win the group, but with the points on Tuesday, Norway will make a strong start in the race for second place.

Spain have not lost a home game in EC or World Cup qualifiers since 0-1 against Greece in 2003. Since 2000, they have only drawn five times at home in championship qualifiers.

Norway’s EC qualifiers continue with an away game against Georgia on Tuesday night.