Norway’s 1-0 against the Faroe Islands on Thursday night came after a beautiful Norwegian set-piece.

Oscar Bobb first took a low corner kick onto the pitch, where Fredrik Aursnes was ready to receive it. He took the ball out with him, before suddenly flicking the ball back again to where Bobb was running. The City player broke free and put a cross in front of goal – which Jørgen Strand Larsen turned into the net.

Random? NO.

For football observers, this variation is very reminiscent of something you saw on November 7 when Newcastle met Dortmund in the Champions League.

Newcastle then tried a corner kick variant that looked similar to Norway’s, but it didn’t result in any goals when England tried it.

That’s where Solbakken got the idea, and sent this text message to set-piece manager Pål Fjelde that same evening:

Sending SMS

Ståle Solbakken confirmed to NRK that they were inspired by Newcastle’s efforts.

– Yes, that’s all. “It was a corner I sat and watched on TV,” said the national team manager.

He said he took action as soon as he saw the intelligent variant.

– Then I started texting set piece manager Pål Fjelde and wrote that “we will try it”. Pål and I had a bit of a fight about who should get the credit for it, but I can give it to him, says Solbakken with a smile.

After the press conference with the national team manager, NRK was sent photo evidence from Pål Fjelde which confirmed what Solbakken said.

“Newcastle’s corner variance is approx. 21/22 minutes”, Solbakken wrote to Fjelde that evening.

– But Brede (Hangeland) answered us to death and said that Newcastle also used it last year. So he wants praise too, Solbakken added.

Thorstvedt was skeptical

Kristian Thorstvedt said the national team practiced this in training the day before the match against the Faroe Islands.

The Italian professional revealed that he is not completely sure that this new move will end in success.

– In training, at least it seems like there won’t be any goals. But we scored, so that’s good, he told NRK with a smile.

When NRK showed Thorstvedt a clip of Newcastle attempting the same thing two weeks ago, he ironically said:

– It’s very special that you showed it. It’s exactly the same as ours. It’s surprising and surprising, because we have it No seen before, he was joking.

– Everything is according to plan

The player who completed the set-piece movement by scoring a goal, Jørgen Strand Larsen, was happy because the set-piece was a shot.

– We practiced it yesterday. It’s fun to practice things in battle after two minutes. Then you have done something right. We did everything according to plan. That was well done by Bobb. Then I just put my foot up – and I did. It’s delicious, Strand Larsen told NRK.

Haldenser had the following to say about Newcastle’s development:

– Similar, only we score goals. So that’s much better. We weren’t the ones who had the idea behind it, we just did as we were told. And it worked. You just have to listen to Pål, says Strand Larsen.

Now the national team will train in Lillestrøm on Friday, before they board a plane and travel to complete the EC qualifiers with a meaningless match against Scotland on Sunday evening.

– Not very healthy

The Norwegian EC’s hopes lie in Israel hijacking the EC’s ticket before Romania. The two countries met on Saturday evening.

Ståle Solbakken felt he didn’t have to assemble a team and go along with the thriller.

– We will practice quite late, so there may be a small accident there. After all, sitting and watching is simply torture. I watched it yesterday (Israel against Switzerland), but it wasn’t very healthy. You just feel annoyed, Solbakken said.

PS: NRK pundit Kristoffer Løkberg said he also noticed Newcastle’s set-piece movement on November 7. He tipped off the Vikings’ assistant coach, and the Stavanger club decided to try the same thing against Sarpsborg. It ended in complete destruction…