#FT: Cyprus 0-4 Norway
Venue: AEK Arena
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Cyprus
Joel Mall, Alexander Gogic, Hector Kyprianou, Andreas Karo, Anderson Correia, Stelios Andreou, Ioannis Kousoulos (Stavros Gavriel), Charalampos Charalampous (Kostas Pileas), Charis Kyriakou (Danilo Spoljaric), Andronikos Kakoulis (Marios Elia), Grigoris Kastanos (Pavlos Korrea).
Subs: Loizos Loizou, Neophytos Michael, Marios Antoniades, Minas Antoniou, Nikolas Panagiotou, Demetris Christofi, Demetris Demetriou.
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Norway
Ørjan Nyland, Leo Ostigard, Kristoffer Ajer, Birger Meling, Julian Ryerson, Sander Berge, Fredrik Aursnes (Bard Finne), Martin Ødegaard (Kristian Thorstvedt), Erling Haaland (Jørgen Strand Larsen), Ola Solbakken (Oscar Bobb), Alexander Sørloth (Antonio Nusa).
Subs: Egil Selvik, Marcus Pedersen, Matias Dyngeland, Stefan Strandberg, Hugo Vetlesen, Stian Gregersen, Patrick Berg.
MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN
33' Goal! Cyprus 0, Norway 1. Alexander Sørloth (Norway) left footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner.
46' Ioannis Kousoulos (Cyprus) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
54' Substitution, Cyprus. Danilo Spoljaric replaces Charalambos Kyriakou.
54' Substitution, Cyprus. Marios Ilia replaces Andronikos Kakoullis.
60' Substitution, Cyprus. Kostas Pileas replaces Charalampos Charalampous.
63' Substitution, Norway. Oscar Bobb replaces Ola Solbakken.
64' Substitution, Norway. Antonio Nusa replaces Alexander Sørloth.
65' Goal! Cyprus 0, Norway 2. Erling Haaland (Norway) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Fredrik Aursnes with a cross following a corner.
72' Goal! Cyprus 0, Norway 3. Erling Haaland (Norway) header from very close range to the top left corner. Assisted by Antonio Nusa with a cross.
77' Substitution, Norway. Jørgen Strand Larsen replaces Erling Haaland.
78' Substitution, Norway. Kristian Thorstvedt replaces Martin Ødegaard.
78' Substitution, Cyprus. Pavlos Korrea replaces Grigoris Kastanos.
79' Substitution, Cyprus. Stavros Gavriel replaces Ioannis Kousoulos because of an injury.
81' Goal! Cyprus 0, Norway 4. Fredrik Aursnes (Norway) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
88' Substitution, Norway. Bård Finne replaces Fredrik Aursnes.
For what is worth, I think up until the 0-2 Cyprus played much better than usual and I might say that we were unlucky to concede with the manner we conceded. Only chances from Norway were from crosses up until that point, but after that we just couldn't cope with their quality. They were easily better and the score could have been even more.
0 points at this stage is a disgrace and some serious decisions need to be taken. Our players individually should be the best we ever had and they get to play regularly for their teams (some in top leagues in Europe), yet the past 2-3 years have been embarrassment after embarrassment. If they only want to play for the NT because they fulfill contractual targets and/or they are called up because of favours to their agents, there needs to be a complete revamp to how the system works. 0 points and tragic performances against sides such as Scotland and Norway who were always better than us but at least we looked at a close level when playing at home.
I don't know what needs to be done, but this NT is the worst I've ever seen and is on par with NTs like Malta and San Marino. The country's football is being disgraced even though our league is consistently in the top 20.