Norway boss Ståle Solbakken agreed with the notion that the overhead wires deserve an assist for England‘s equaliser as the ball dropped down “straight from heaven” despite FIFA‘s ball sensor showing no contact.
Jude Bellingham‘s brace secured a 2-1 quarter-final victory that went to extra-time in hot and humid Miami, where Andreas Schjelderup‘s cross-shot had given the Scandinavians the lead.
Bellingham cancelled out the opener with a smart finish in first-half stoppage-time, with England breaking quickly after Ørjan Nyland’s goal kick was cut out.
The ball appeared to hit one of the overhead TV cables, but FIFA says the chip in the ball did not record anything.
A statement from the governing body read: “Before England’s goal in minute 45+2 against Norway, the sensor in the connected ball showed no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball.”
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Solbakken was asked at the start of the post-match news conference whether the camera wire deserved an assist for the leveller, with the Norway boss saying: “Yeah, it probably will.
“That was unlucky for us. The ball fell straight down from the sky, so it changed its direction.
“It became a misunderstanding among our players and it was in a bad moment for us, but we can’t do anything about that.
“I don’t think we will play the game again, so that’s how it is.”
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Solbakken did not see the ball hit the wire but many on the Norwegian bench did, even if it was not picked up by FIFA.
“I can’t say anything about that because FIFA,” he said. “If there’s no been no sound or there has been no [reading] in the chip, what can I say against that?
“But the ball drops down straight from heaven says everyone, including Ørjan, who is the goalie, including the guy who is going to receive the ball.
“I saw another way just then, so I wonder also what happened. I think it’s pretty clear that it did and it was a strange thing.”
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It was a painful end to a summer to treasure for Norway, who marked their first World Cup since 1998 by going deeper in a major tournament than ever before.
Put to Solbakken that everyone in Norway will talk about the wire incident until death, he said: “I hope we can think about and talk about other things. That’s my sincere hope.
“I hope that this will not be the story about this team. It shouldn’t be.
