Key events
72 min: Neymar is going to score an 94th minute winner, isn’t he? Norway sort of run into Brazilians a few time in the box. If you asked me who I think the best team in this game is, I’d say Cape Verde.
70 min: We’re back and hydrated.
68 min: Who’s this coming on? Some guy called Neymar? For Matinelli? Yes it is. We will have drinks now too.
67 min: Norway, who scored 947 goals in qualifying, have been a non-event in attack. They appear reluctant to take any risks in the Brazil half. That said Alisson concedes a corner after pawing a cross away from Haaland. Brazil clear. Then Haaland is inches away from prodding the ball home as the ball slides across goal. Better from Norway, they clearly listened to my team talk.
64 min: Were Brazil playing rope a dope the whole time? They’re breaking past the tiring Norwegians a lot now. Nyland charges out to make an excellent save but it was offside. The Norway keeper is man of the match so far. Aursnes comes on for Ryerson.
62 min: Corner for Brazil, who are maybe creeping into control of this game. Nyland punches it clear. He then has to save smartly from a swirling Rayan shot. “If Brazil win no one will care,” says Mary Waltz. “But get rid of the distinctive kit and this could be Everton v Fulham.”
60 min: Endrick nearly has an instant impact! He finds himself free and clear after a lovely pass from Vini with the outside of his boot. The teenager scampers free but prods the ball wide. Should have scored.
58 min: Endrick comes on for Cunha.
57 min: Brazil are finding it’s hard to score when there isn’t a Scottish defender to pass it to them.
56 min: Vini drifts past a few Norwegian defenders and wins a corner (nothing comes of it). Lovely stuff from the Brazilian and it makes you wonder why Brazil are mounting so few attacks.
53 min: Brazil are still sitting back but Norway are giving it away less. But also not really attacking.
51 min: Bobb runs around in a circle. Which is about as dangerous for the Brazilian as it sounds.
49 min: The sun is out in New Jersey, things may heat up. Here’s Joshua Lynn Eisenstein: “Hey, I grew up amongst the highways and malls of New Jersey, and they’re not really all that bad. Drive for awhile in any direction and you’ll eventually get to a city or a beach.”
And Shark River Hills. Never forget Shark River Hills.
46 min: Two subs for Norway. Bobb and Schjelderup are on for Nusa and Sorloth. Nusa had been very lively but had given it away quite a bit. I wonder if Norway are looking to become more disciplined in possession. I thought Sorloth had been pretty good …
Leander Schaerlaeckens is at the stadium for us today and has a quick update on his impressions so far:
“A weirdly paced game played on a much cooler afternoon but in absolutely cloaking humidity. It feels like neither team could quite decide how to approach that half, or what they were trying to get out of it.”
Half-time emails:
Tim Mason: “Nusa has tried cutting in from the left three or four times, failed each time, and each time it’s led to a Brazilian fast break. Maybe Nusa needs a second move.”
Rowan Hooper: “Nevermind heavy metal football, I think the men in red should listen to some Norwegian death metal at half time.”
Justin Kavanagh: “It’s not quite catenaccio, but the Brazilian fans are beginning to get frustrated with their Italian coach’s tactic of soaking up the Norwegian pressure and playing them on the break. It’s becoming Carlo’s Nogo bonito, and they don’t like it.”
Farhan: “That Martinelli chance was a great one. Needed someone ever so slightly better in the air at the end of it. Too bad Casemiro couldn’t be there since he was the creator in that instance.”
A strange half. Norway dominated possession but only created a few chances, and that was towards the end of the half. Brazil sat back and looked happy to try to exploit the frequent Norway turnovers. Their fans didn’t seem happy at the tactics and there were a few whistles from the crowd towards the end of the half. I hear this Ancelotti guy knows what he’s doing though.
Half-time: Brazil 0-0 Norway
Norway had a goal disallowed, Brazil missed a penalty. We go into the break scoreless.
45 min + 5: Martinelli nearly gets on to a lovely ball from Casemiro but it’s a little too high for him.
45 min + 3: Haaland causes a bit of panic in the box and Odegaard has time to stop and steady himself before shooting. Alisson sprawls and saves. Odegaard should have done better with the time he was given.
45 min +1: A corner for Norway, wasted again. Fox says Haaland has scored every 14 touches this World Cup. Why don’t they just pass it to him 14 times then?
45 min: Six minutes of added time.
44 min: Norway are giving the ball away every few minutes. They’re very lucky not to have been punished.
43 min: Norway go back to the 90s and lump it long. Haaland nearly chases it through to create a chance. A few moments later he lays it off to Odegaard, whose shot is blocked for a corner. Nothing comes of it.
41 min: Brazil sit in possession on the edge of the Norway box. Vini is given too much room again but Ryerson recovers. A few moments later Vini twists and turns in the area and Nyland has to pull off a good save to keep the scores level.
38 min: Haaland tries to hook/lob it over Alisson but he doesn’t quite get the needed height and arc. Smart play though. He could do well, this kid. “Why don’t Norway do the old cross to the big man and see what he can do? Some intricate plays in possession but no crosses is irritating me to no end,” asks Daniel Wright on email.
36 min: Norway are turning it over like Russell Westbrook. Haaland gets a rare touch but … gives it away. Then Brazil give it away and, on the counter attack, Odegaard smacks the ball into the side netting. If both teams counter-attack is that just an attack?
34 min: Brazil continue to look scary on the break. Vini dances away from the Norwegian defence but can’t catch up with the ball before it wends its way towards a goal kick.
31 min: Martinelli races away from his marker and flashes the ball across goal. Nyland gets a boot to it and is very relieved to see it deflect away from the net. That could have gone anywhere.
29 min: We’re back. A few people have written in to say that the Norwegian defender got a touch on the penalty. Looked stone cold where I was sitting but it doesn’t matter – they missed anyway. Speaking of which, here’s Martin Gamage. “I genuinely think stutter run up penalties discomfit the taker more than the keeper. Practice your best penalty and take it with a smooth run up. If you get it right, the keeper won’t save it. Which is typically Kane’s technique until he tried that stutter run up against Croatia – off which, of course, he missed.”
28 min: Drinks break. They’ll have sweated a fair bit in this wet bulb extravaganza. Nusa has been a wonderful livewire for Norway so far. He doesn’t actually get very far but he’s scampering about with the ball at any opportunity.
26 min: The Fox broadcast says Bruno Guimaraes is the first Brazilian to miss a World Cup penalty since 1986. Yikes.
25 min: Free-kick to Norway to the left of the goal, about 45 yards out. All set up for Odegaard to swing it in but they take the slow approach instead and Brazil win the bacll back. Norway are controlling the possession but they’re turning it over a lot, and Brazil look very dangerous on the counter.
22 min: Norway have 60% of the possession so far. Maybe 61% after a backpass to the keeper. They already won the Winter Olympics, why not the World Cup?
