In the 1990´s and early 2000’s, Norwegian football experienced huge success. The International team qualified for the World Cup in 1994 and 1998, their first entries to either the World Cup or European Championships since 1938.
In the 1998 finals in France, they also beat Brazil in dramatic fashion to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time in Norwegian history. The squads for the World Cups in 1994 and 1998, contained ten and 11 players from English football.
In addition to the national team’s success, Norwegian clubs found their feet themselves. Rosenborg qualified regularly for the Champions League, and was able to be competitive against, and beat sides like AC Milan and Real Madrid.
But since then, the tale tells a different story. Norway has not qualified for either the World Cup or European Championships since 2000. Coincidently, the export of Norwegian players to English football has dropped dramatically. Why is that? Tibs asked Lars Tjærnås, former assistant manager of Wimbledon FC, and coach for several national youth teams, about the main reasons for the huge export of players to the Premier League during the 1990´s and early 2000´s. He said:
– First and foremost, they were cheap. Secondly, Norwegian football earned a high reputation due to the national team´s success, and also, Rosenborg´s success in the Champions League. And third, value for money. Norwegian players were regarded as easy to settle in, due to their culture and language. And they were very well-known for working hard and go on about their job without any complaints, Tjærnås explains.
Indeed, Norway were, and still are, in fact known for their iron will and never-say-die attitude. This was hugely emphasized in June 1993, when Norway played against England in the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup. Norway ended up comfortable 2-0 winners, outfighting their British opponents. Independent´s Joe Lovejoy wrote in his match report that England “were second-best throughout against the group leaders.”
The Norwegian attitude, will and work ethics shellshocked the Brits, and ultimately, they couldn´t resist the Vikings´s workload. Norway´s national team did so well during the 90´s that they found them selves second on the FIFA rankings at one point, and was regularly among the top 10. They looked on course to qualify for the European Championships in England as well, but stumbled in the last two games. With Lars Tjærnås´s comments in mind, Tibs asked the same question to Nils Johan Semb, the last manager to take Norway to a major tournament, when they qualified for the 2000 Championships. He said:
– Norwegian football was on a high. The national team did very well. Not just the senior team, but also the under-21´s. Rosenborg started to hit the ground running in Europe as well, which caught Europan clubs´s attention, he said.
He also points out that Norwegians speak very good English and with the cultural similarities, they rarely have problems of settling in quickly.
It´s interesting that from when Premier League was established in 1992, and up until December 31 1999, the league introduced 37 individual Norwegians to the grand stage. But after January 1. 2000 and up until today, only 15 players with a Norwegian passport have the right to brag about Premier League caps under their belt. Southampton´s new signing, Vegard Forren, is yet to make an appearance in the Premiership. Why has this number dropped so significantly? Lars Tjærnås explains:
– The two factors I mentioned earlier have changed gradually over the years. Norwegian clubs learned how to get a higher price for their players, which made it more difficult for English clubs to find good and cheap players in Norway. But what´s most important, the national team failed to qualify for major championships, and club teams failed to qualify for the European cups, he said.
Indeed, Norway haven´t qualified for either the World Cup or the European Championships since 2000. And the country up north, has not had a team in the group stages of the prestigious Champions League since 2007. And when Nils Johan Semb is quizzed about his opinions about the lack of Norwegians in the Premier League, he says:
– The prices have changed. Norwegian players were cheaper in the 1990´s, as the clubs needed the money more back then. Also, the competition has increased enormously. They way Premiership clubs are run now, is completely different than they were back then. Premier League has gradually globalised and become worldwide. Nowadays they have huge scouting networks, exploring markets like Africa and South America. Even Asia to some extent, Semb explains.
So, is it all doom and gloom, then? Probably not. There are several reasons to be optimistic about the future. The national team looks in good shape to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and the under-21 team has done exceptionally well in recent years. Last year they qualified for the European Championships this summer. A huge feat, considering the top international teams who are in it, and what kind of talent they possess. Lars Tjærnås believes this is a reason to be optimistic about the future. Quizzed on if he thinks we will see more a heavier export to the Premier League in the future, he says:
– Yes, I think so. The mechanism in football is easy: The players who play for successful teams, will eventually be spotted and bought by bigger clubs. Norway has qualified for the European under-21 Championships this summer, arguably the best shopping window in world football. I think there is no doubt we will se more Norwegian players in the big leagues in the years to come, and that bodes well for Norwegian football, he says.
The former assistant manager of Wimbledon is also available on Twitter: @Tjaernas
By Axel With Gogstad
Twitter: @AxelGogstad
Image provided by superleague formula: thebeautifulrace via Flickr
