Norway 0-3 Turkey Player Ratings: Haaland and Odegaard struggle in World Cup qualifier
Norway were left scratching their heads on Saturday afternoon after a humbling 3-0 defeat to Turkey at the Estadio La Rosaleda stadium
Following a professional 3-0 win over Gibraltar in their opening qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup, Stale Solbakken’s side now find themselves sitting near the bottom of Group G and wondering whether they will have enough to turn this campaign around.
Norway v Turkey: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats
❌ Erling Haaland: 5.5
Following his success with Borussia Dortmund this season, few would have believed that any side could struggle or indeed lose a game with Erling Haaland up front. But so it would seem that the towering striker is in fact human after all.
Against a very impressive Turkish side, Haaland spent much of the game looking entirely cut off from the rest of the Norway team and only touched the ball 23 times. And when it came to actually having any chances in the box, the striker managed just three touches of the ball.
As such, Haaland’s output was essentially cut to zero. Although the striker managed 18 passes, he also lost the ball on eight occasions and managed just two shots before being substituted off in the 83rd minute.
❌ Martin Odegaard: 6.9
Usually, if Norway can’t rely on Haaland to score the goals single handedly they can turn to Real Madrid and Arsenal star Martin Odegaard to break through opposing midfield lines and set up goals for other players.
However that simply wasn’t the case against Turkey. Despite touching the ball 86 times and making 27 passes into the final third over the course of the game, Odegaard failed to create a single big chance and managed just one shot on target on his own.
In a game that was crying out for Norway's individual talents to shine against a well-drilled Turkish side, both Haaland and Odegaard failed to live up to expectation.
⭐ Ozan Tufan: 9.3
If there was one player that certainly did live up to expectation then it was undoubtedly Turkish midfielder Ozan Tufan, who finished the game with the man of the match award after scoring two goals.
The Fenerbahce central midfielder struck after just four minutes when he showed perfect technique to fire a first-time shot just inside the right post from outside the Norwegian box.
After the break the midfielder just about repeated the same trick when he collected the ball in the 59th minute - once again on the edge of Norwegian box - and unleashed a shot into the corner of the net.
On a day that should have shone so bright for individual attacking players, it was this defensive midfielder that stole the show.
Norway v Turkey: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats