94 touches from Messi, second only to Enzo. 9 dribbles. 4 key passes. 2 assists. Extraordinary influence. And equally remarkable how he was allowed to exert it.
Thore Haugstad
@haugstad1006.bsky.social
The Players' Tribune | NRK | Sports Illustrated ⚽✍️ http://thorehaugstad.com
Joining the long line of people questioning Tuchel's gameplan here.
Juks. Pirater. Røde kort. Thatcher. Militærgeneraler. Dronning Elizabeths teppe. Hundeveddeløp. Simeones felle. Og en krig som fortsatt er relevant. England vs Argentina. Rivaliseringen som har alt. Takk til Jonathan Wilson og Santi Bauzá. www.nrk.no/sport/xl/fot...
Fotball-VM: Hatoppgjøret i semifinalen mellom England og Argentina
Løgner, røde kort, pirater og krig. Ingen rivalisering i VM har vært bitrere enn England mot Argentina.
nrk.no
Feels like Spain are playing a different game to everyone else at this World Cup. Rivals learning on the go, Spain relying on muscle memory. No pure striker, Nico barely fit, Yamal not even at his best, and yet France weren't even close. Just shockingly good.
Litt om hva seieren på Estadio Azteca har betydd for England. www.nrk.no/fotballvm202...
Thore Haugstad: Sjelden har England elsket laget sitt mer
Norges neste motstander tvilte på seg selv. Så vant de slaget ved Estadio Azteca.
nrk.no
In October 2024, Norway lost 5–1 to Austria in the Nations League. As captain that night, Haaland was killed for refusing to speak to the press. He later apologised. Since then he’s played 14 competitive games for Norway. He's won 14 He's scored 27 goals Next up: England
Crazy night in Oslo. About 100,000 crammed into the centre. Songs, chants, dances, drums. A girl crowdsurfing in an inflatable boat. Six guys 'rowing' in the fountain. One man doing pull-ups from a lamp post 20 metres above the ground. Never seen anything like it here.
Not fancying England up in the thin air of the Azteca.
My biggest not-at-the-World Cup FOMO is missing out on the Azteca. You can even feel the aura through the screen.
France about to cruise into the quarters in second gear (all due respect, Paraguay). Pretty frightening when the title favourites are hyped up for months, then turn out to be even better than expected.
With the Dutch and Germans out, worth remembering that European teams have won 10 out of 11 World Cups played in Europe, but 1 out of 8 in the Americas.
Afrika er VMs vinner så langt. Jeg tror dette blir et vendepunkt for hele kontinentet. www.nrk.no/fotballvm202...
Thore Haugstad: Afrika er VMs vinner – så langt
Kontinentet er i ferd med å hale innpå Europa.
nrk.no
Jeg undervurderte Messi før VM. Tror ikke jeg var alene. www.nrk.no/fotballvm202...
Thore Haugstad: Vi glemte at Messi er Messi
Selv med status som tidenes beste sjokkerer 39-åringen oss. Igjen.
nrk.no
Fun to remember Castilla 2016-17. Stars: Ødegaard, Valverde, Hakimi. Coach: Solari. Table position: 11th in the Spanish third tier. www.transfermarkt.com/spielbericht...
Elfenbenskysten virker sterke. Null baklengs i kvaliken. Yan Diomandé livsfarlig. Ga Tyskland store problemer. ESPN har dem som det nest beste afrikanske laget i VM akkurat nå (Senegal på åttendeplass): www.espn.com/espn/story/_...
Re-ranking all 10 African teams at the World Cup ahead of their final group game
With one more round of matches to be before we enter the knockouts, here's our revised ranking of Africa's World Cup 10.
espn.com
Came across a fun picture caption from the 2016 Copa América final. "Messi's shocking decision to stop playing for Argentina could further hurt his already tarnished legacy with his national team."
Messi is actually 12 CL goals, 3 CL assists and 1 World Cup assist away from being the all time goalscorer and assister in La Liga, World Cup and CL 😂 So good it's hard to get your head around it.
Messi should do another season in Europe to get Champions League + La Liga + World Cup all-time top scorer hattrick. Just 12 more CL goals.
...og ukas episode, der @brunebratseth.bsky.social og @haugstad1006.bsky.social snakker om den første uka av VM: open.spotify.com/episode/1rxZ...
Episode #413 - VM så langt (med Ali Soufi-Grimsrud og Thore Haugstad)
Pyro & Pivo · Episode
open.spotify.com
Jeg tror Ronaldo ville vært et større problem for Portugal på benken enn det han er på banen. www.nrk.no/fotballvm202...
Thore Haugstad: Derfor kan ikke Cristiano Ronaldo vrakes
Portugals 41-årige kaptein er blitt større enn sitt eget landslag.
nrk.no
Wonder if Portugal's wingers are dangerous enough to win this World Cup. One successful dribble that half, from Cancelo. Feels similar to the Spain game so far: Lots of possession and nobody really able to destabilise the defence on their own.
Smart from Deschamps to move Olise into the centre. Just give him the ball.
Har skrevet om Brasils kompliserte forhold til landslaget. Stor takk til @leodoria.bsky.social, Mauricio Savarese og Marius Lien. www.nrk.no/sport/xl/tho...
Thore Haugstad: Halve Brasil gir blaffen i VM
Den gule trøyen pleide å samle Brasil. Nå er den blitt et symbol på sportslige skuffelser, splittende politikk og en tapt identitet.
nrk.no
A few words on Norway at the World Cup for Sports Illustrated. www.si.com/soccer/tale-...
The Art of Savoring a World Cup—From ‘We’ll Deep-fry Your Paella’ to the Law of Jante
A fan’s attitude toward soccer’s biggest tournament—as well as their nation’s hopes—depends on where they live. Just ask Norway and Scotland.
si.com
Første ligatittel for Ødegaard. 27 år. Det har vært en lang vei. www.nrk.no/sport/thore-...
Thore Haugstad-kommentar: Denne tittelen fortjener Ødegaard
Det er stort å vinne Premier League med et evig topplag. Det er langt større å gjøre det med en fallen storhet.
nrk.no
Having the potential title winner beating a relegated team 1–0 at home with a set piece in a key game is very 2025-26.
Kind of mental to see Arteta run into the dressing room to use every single one of his precious 15 minutes, title on the line .... and then his captain is held up doing a rushed and pointless live interview.
obviously results, but his attacking numbers to expectation were flat and defence -5, since he left Utd's attack is +7 to expectation and flat in defence. As ever our old pal variance lurks