Solbakken Slams Refereeing After England Match

Norway's national football coach, Ståle Solbakken, voiced strong criticism towards the refereeing following his team's match against England. Solbakken was particularly incensed by an incident involving a camera cable, suggesting the officials' failure to notice it was inexplicable.

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The referees cannot have missed this. Did Norway have to enter the field for them to notice? If the thing that stopped the ball was a cable, the game should have restarted with a referee's throw.

"The referees cannot have missed this," Solbakken stated, questioning how such an oversight could occur. He implied that the game's outcome might have been unfairly influenced by this and other "small details" that did not go Norway's way.

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We competed at the highest level, and small details were not in our favor. But that's life. Now we need to take a breath.

Despite his frustration with the officiating, the 58-year-old coach lauded his players' efforts. He expressed pride in their performance, acknowledging the high level of competition. Solbakken also extended his gratitude to the Norwegian public for their "magnificent support" throughout the period, hoping they achieved something positive together by the summer of 2026.

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I truly applaud my footballers. This is the highest level, there is nothing higher. We had some problems at the beginning, especially in the first 20 minutes, but I truly applaud my footballers.