News Focus
- Norway manager Stale Solbakken brands Scotland boss Steve Clarke “unprofessional” following the cancellation of a practice match
- Scotland withdrew from the Monday fixture in North Carolina, blaming minor injuries picked up by players
- Solbakken complains that Clarke failed to telephone him personally to explain the decision
- Norway’s team manager Brede Hangeland reveals they had organised the closed-door game for many months
- The Scottish FA defends its actions, insisting proper procedure was followed through team managers rather than head coaches
Scotland manager Steve Clarke has faced strong criticism from Norway head coach Stale Solbakken. The Norwegian boss has called Clarke “unprofessional” after Scotland cancelled a private training game between the two countries.
Both teams are currently based in North Carolina preparing for the World Cup. They had planned to play a closed-door match on Monday at Scotland’s training ground in Charlotte. However, the Scottish Football Association called off the fixture on Sunday. Officials explained that several players had suffered minor knocks during the previous week.
Clarke later told the BBC that the game was only meant to last one hour. He said the risk of further injuries was too high. “We picked up one or two niggles last week and decided it wasn’t worth the risk,” he explained.
But Solbakken is angry about how the situation was handled. Speaking to Norwegian broadcaster NRK after his team’s 1-1 draw with Morocco, he said Clarke should have telephoned him directly. Instead, Norway received the news through Scotland’s team manager.
“It is unprofessional of Scotland,” Solbakken stated. “It is unprofessional that the coach has not called me. They use the team manager and call after we have finished training.” He also said he does not believe Scotland’s injuries came from their most recent training session.
Brede Hangeland, the Norway team manager and former Fulham defender, also expressed his frustration. He said Norway had based their World Cup preparations around this match for months. The Norwegian camp is staying in Greensboro, about 90 miles from Scotland’s base.
“It is embarrassing to cancel it a couple of days before,” Hangeland said. “There has been a lot of organisation and gentlemen’s agreements. Then suddenly they don’t want to. I think that was weak.”
The Scottish FA has defended its decision. A spokesperson said the arrangement was always between team managers, not head coaches. They said this was the same process used when they cancelled another fixture on Saturday. The spokesperson added that the game was never announced to the public, so they were surprised when Norwegian media reported it.
Scotland played their final public warm-up match on Saturday, beating Bolivia 4-0. Clarke used most of his squad during that game. Norway drew 1-1 with Morocco, who are Scotland’s opponents in Group C.
The Scots will open their World Cup campaign against Haiti on Tuesday. Norway begin their tournament in Group I against Iraq three days later.