NEW YORK: Norway lost possession repeatedly and paid the price against speedy France in its 4-1 loss at the World Cup on Friday but coach Stale Solbakken said his second-string team deserved credit for it fighting spirit as the knockout stage looms.
France striker Ousmane Dembele scored a first-half hat-trick against the Norwegians, with Solbakken resting 10 of their 11 regular starters, including top scorer Erling Haaland, ahead of the Round of 32 next week where they face Ivory Coast.
“It goes very fast when we lose the ball a few times,” Solbakken said. “Offensively, we created chances throughout the whole game, so the boys should have credit for that. It was not only in the second half that we created chances, we created big chances.”
Striker Jorgen Strand Larsen blew a chance to get Norway back into the game early in the second half when his soft penalty was saved by Mike Maignan. Agencies
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