- Title: Norway, Germany prepare for World Cup qualifier
- Date: 3rd September 2017
- Summary: STUTTGART, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 3, 2017) (REUTERS) NORWAY FLAG NORWAY COACH LARS LAGERBACK VARIOUS OF NORWAY TRAINING VARIOUS OF NORWAY COACH LARS LAGERBACK AND PLAYER HAVARD NORDTVEIT ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NORWAY COACH, LARS LAGERBACK, SAYING: "Of course we think Germany will have the ball much more than we have, normally that will happen. But how we should attack out from that, that depends of course how aggressive they are - I always want to have as much variation as possible and that's what we try to work with. But if Germany is very aggressive in their start of the defence we have to adapt to that and try to get quickly out in starting positions so that we can play our way out of that. Doesn't matter if it's short or long, it's up to the players to take that decision." JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) NORWAY COACH, LARS LAGERBACK, SAYING: "I think if Germany play as they normally play, I suppose it will be some situations where we will play a rather simple way of attacking if I put it that way. It could be effective I hope, but we have talked of course a lot about and we'll talk more tonight with the players about that we did some stupid situation where we lost the ball in the last game. If you do that against Germany you are in trouble in my opinion." (SOUNDBITE) (Norwegian) NORWAY PLAYER, HAVARD NORDTVEIT, SAYING ACCORDING TO HIS OWN TRANSLATION HE GAVE AFTER: "It's difficult to say what the top priorities will be because Germany are second place in the Fifa rankings and they're simply a great team."
- Embargoed: 17th September 2017 15:58
- Keywords: World Cup qualifier Germany Norway Joachim Loew Sami Khedira Lars Lagerback Harvard Nordveit
- Location: STUTTGART, GERMANY
- City: STUTTGART, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0016X1K3LR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Norway were on the training pitch in Stuttgart on Sunday (September 3) ahead of their World Cup qualifying round match against Germany on Monday (September 4).
Coach Lars Lagerbeck said he expected Germany to have more possession, but his team would be using a simple attacking strategy to try and counter Germany.
The hosts are top of Group C and will be hoping to maintain their perfect record after seven games in World Cup qualifying. If they beat Norway they could wrap up qualification so long as Ireland fail to beat the Czech Republic on the same day. The group winners qualify directly for Russia 2018 while the eight best second-placed teams in the nine groups go into a playoff round.
German coach Joachim Loew said some question marks remained over his final selection, including over midfielder Sami Khedira, who missed the team's last match against Czech Republic on Friday (September 1) due to a knee injury. The Juventus player was not part of Germany's Confederations Cup-winning team in July, having been rested by Loew ahead of the World Cup.
Khedira said he felt recovered and hoped he would get chance to play in Stuttgart, where he began his career. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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