Winless Cyprus face Champions League winner Erling Haaland and an out-of-form Norway in Tuesday’s Group A Euro 2024 qualification fixture.
Cyprus hopes to get off the mark in their fourth group game at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.
The Cypriots will be looking to move on following a bitterly disappointing home defeat to Georgia on Saturday at the AEK Arena in Larnaca.
Cyprus lost 1-2 to the Georgians, despite hitting the bar twice and creating good opportunities to score.
The game started badly when Georgia’s striker Georges Mikautadze scored the opening goal in the 31st minute following a defensive blunder.
Eight minutes later, Cyprus equalised with a shaky penalty by Ioannis Pittas.
Cyprus should have taken the lead when Pittas and Constantinos Laifis hit the frame of the goal from close range.
Georgia won late in the game when left winger Zuriko Davitashvili scored with a low drive in the 84th minute.
Cyprus remain rooted to the bottom of the group with zero points.
Cypriot coach Timur Ketsbaia, a former Georgian international and coach of his country’s national team, was frustrated with the result.
“We deserved at least a draw in this game.
“But in the end, it was the quality that determined the result. But even so, we deserved something more,” said Ketsbaia.
He said he has been living in Cyprus for 35 years and is trying to do his job as well as he can.
Ketsbaia was also disappointed by the turnout of Cypriot fans.
“It is unacceptable to play at home and see that the Georgians had 2000 people and we had just over 500.
“Unfortunately, this hurts a lot more, and the footballers were hurt.
“When you don’t respect the national team, luck will not be with you,” said Ketsbaia.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian coach may not have Manchester City star Erling Haaland available for the game, as he had requested to be substituted during the defeat against Scotland on Saturday.
Haaland was substituted on 84 minutes, while Norway was winning 1-0 from his penalty.
Scotland escaped with the win 2-1, scoring twice on 87 and 89 minutes, just minutes after Haaland had been benched.
“He (Haaland) requested to be substituted. We kept him in the game 10 to 12 more than we should have. During that time, it was as if we were playing with a man less,” said Norway’s coach Stale Solbakken
Norway’s quest in the Euro 2024 qualifiers is also in troubled waters, as the team has just one point in three games so far.
