Martin Ødegaard and Erling Braut Haaland returned to the national team training pitch at Ullevaal Stadion on Wednesday, putting to rest any immediate concerns about their physical fitness ahead of upcoming Nations League fixtures.
The star duo had sat out the opening training session in Lillestrøm on Tuesday, prompting questions from the press pool. National team manager Ståle Solbakken quickly dismissed the absence as anything more severe than minor knocks accumulated during a heavy club fixture schedule. Solbakken confirmed that neither player was dealing with illness.
“They are minor things compared to the fact that they have picked up some small knocks, but I have no reason to believe that this won’t turn out very well, and we do have a plan for them to recover today in their own way relative to where they are and how great the workload has been,” Ståle Solbakken told Dagbladet.
On Wednesday, he stepped onto the Ullevaal turf alongside captain Ødegaard and participated fully in the scheduled session. The session at Ullevaal stadion began at 12.00, with eight players in total having missed the Tuesday workout in Lillestrøm.
Andrine Hegerberg, NRK football expert, said that Monday’s workout focused on individual needs, making it unsurprising that a player with Haaland’s intense match schedule required recovery time. Magnus Wolff Eikrem also expressed a lack of stress regarding the situation given the early stage of the week before the match. Kristoffer Løkberg emphasized that the team depends on having its best players available.
While the squad’s primary talismans returned to action, the team sustained a key absence in the attacking line. Viking striker Erik Botheim was consequently called up as a replacement, arriving at Ullevaal to take part in Wednesday’s session alongside teammates such as Antonio Nusa.
Solbakken’s broader squad selection for the November matches includes goalkeepers Ørjan Nyland, Egil Selvik, and Sander Tangvik. The defensive unit features Leo Østigård, Torbjørn Heggem, Kristoffer Ajer, Odin Bjørtuft, Eivind Helland, David Møller Wolfe, Julian Ryerson, and Marcus Holmgren Pedersen.
Norge currently sits at the bottom of its group, positioned behind Wales on head-to-head results after the initial four matches of the tournament. Portugal has already secured advancement to the quarterfinals. Securing points in the upcoming matches remains critical, as finishing among the top two teams in the group grants top seeding for next year’s European Championship qualifiers and advances the team to the Nations League quarterfinals scheduled for March.
The schedule for the week also includes tactical training sessions planned for Wednesday and Thursday, followed by set-piece focus on Friday ahead of the weekend fixture.
