Norway gets unexpected football win

Norway got a pleasant surprise when its national football team beat Germany 1-0 in a friendly match last week. It’s been 73 long years since Norway last upset the Germans on the football pitch. Germany was the runner-up at last summer’s European Championships, which makes the win all the more impressive.

The only goal of the game was scored by Christian Grindheim in the 63rd minute when he connected with a low cross from teammate Morten Gamst Pedersen and slipped the ball past the far post. Victory over a tough opponent like Germany will surely give Norway’s national team a major confidence boost after going winless in 2008.

Germany is ranked second in the world by FIFA, while Norway is languishing in 59th place. The last, and only, time Norway beat Germany was at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, when they managed a 2-0 win. Despite missing some of their best players, Norway’s new coach Egil “Drillo” Olsen will be grateful of getting a win in his first match.

Germany’s coach Joachim Loew was banking on Norway playing a defensive game, but he got it all wrong. “Norway was very well organised and we gave them time to get 10 men behind the ball,” Loew said. “We did not play at a high pace; we were not quick enough after winning the ball. We were uninspired and we did not create many chances. This was not an undeserved loss.”