Norway has faced big nations like France and Brazil on the way to Saturday's quarter-final. But that pales in comparison to what awaits them now, a World Cup match against England. At least that's what NRK's columnist Jan Petter Saltvedt thinks.
"They (England) have been our great role models all these years. It's like a circle closing for Norwegian football that we get to face them now," he says.
“Empty streets in Norway”
The warm relationship between the countries dates back to World War II, when they were allies and the Norwegian king spent his exile in London.
But it was in the late 1960s that Norway became an Anglophile football nation. Today, Manchester United has more members than the Norwegian Social Democrats, and Liverpool is Norway's largest football club in terms of membership.
Then Tippekampen (Norway's equivalent of Tipsextra) started broadcasting one English match a week on TV. It was rarely one of the big teams, it was Coventry–Norwich or something like that, but the entire Norwegian people were enchanted, the streets were empty on Saturday afternoons.
Why was it such a success?
It was the only football you could watch on TV, Norwegian football was very rarely broadcast, and it was like that for 25 years. Then our gray social democratic everyday life was enlivened by these pop stars that the English stars were, “Super Mac” (Newcastle player Malcolm Macdonald) and Kevin Keegan for example. That meant that all football-interested Norwegians had a favorite English team and it has been passed down.
Norwegians' favorite national team
The love for English football then spread to national football. While Norway has often been missing from the major championships, the Norwegians have been rooting for England, according to Jan Petter Saltvedt.
Sure, some may have hoped for Sweden or Denmark. But the real enthusiasm during the championships has been for England, that's how it has been for the last 60 years.
Now they face big brother England in Norway's first ever World Cup quarter-final and the greatness of that match cannot be overestimated.
It will be the biggest match in our history. There will be so much emotion, it's actually hard to imagine in advance what it will be like. If we win there will be jubilation, but we will also thank England for everything they have meant to us.
Norway meets England at 11:00 PM, Swedish time, on Saturday evening.
