Norway had a few problems beating Northern Ireland at Southampton, but it’s still flying on one side: the ball of the game.

TV cameras captured several times how the Norwegian and Northern Irish players reacted to the lack of air on the European Championship ball.

And many times have to be replaced.

Stusser

– Not much air in the ball. Very many of them, actually. You feel when you hit the ball it’s almost dead. Maybe we can make sure the ball is pumped better for the next game, Norway captain Maren Mjelde told NRK.

– That’s so weird. I think it will be controlled like that. Now we know about it, so maybe we will confirm that for the next game.”

Hegerberg was among the players who reacted during the game. When Norway got their first corner in the 20th minute, he kicked the ball and expressed dissatisfaction.

– It was a bit soft, at least the first two balls we had, so we asked for a new ball that we could play well, said Hegerberg.

– Bladder

After nine minutes, Northern Ireland goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns sent the ball to the referee, who stopped play for a new one.

Guro Reiten also threw one of his balls.

– It’s a bladder, sort of. When we posted, you just heard… No, there’s too little air in it. The referee took them away and filled it in, but the ball went in with little air, so it didn’t help much. But it worked out in the end, Reiten told NRK.

“That’s going well, honey,” he added with a smile. And it’s true: a 4-1 win could have been bigger, and Reiten crowned a solid match with a free-kick goal.

Arsenal coach and TV4 pundit Jonas Eidevall commented that he had never seen Reiten better.

– For me, it’s about calming down a bit this summer and making a profit. I know what I’m good at, and then I want to take it out on this level. I just have to try to do my best, and play my teammates well. Then I used to be good too. Very good today (Thursday), said Reiten.