England handed new Jude Bellingham 'spidercam' goal verdict as livid Norway refuse to lay down
Norway's players and staff were left furious that Jude Bellingham's opening goal for England at Miami Stadium was allowed to stand by the match officials
Norway are refusing to take their defeat to England lying down, with their manager, No 2 and players hitting out at Jude Bellingham’s first goal. Assistant manager Kent Bergersen is the latest to give his take, insisting VAR should have been consulted over the controversial equaliser.
Norway’s players and staff were left furious as they believed Orjan Nyland's goal kick appeared to touch a cable above the Miami Stadium. The ball was then dropped into the path of Elliot Anderson, who exchanged a pass with Anthony Gordon before finding Bellingham, who cancelled out Andreas Schjelderup’s opener. Nyland rushed to referee Clement Turpin to protest, but no VAR check is believed to have taken place.
FIFA then released a statement in which they said the chip in the ball did not record anything. The statement 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.”
But Bergersen believes Turpin should have been sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR to review the goal. He told TV 2: “When Orjan kicks the ball, it hits the wire with the camera, so the ball is much shorter than it should have been. The referee should have looked at that.”
While former Norway midfielder Kjetil Rekdal said: “It's absolutely crazy that something like that can happen. The referees can't have noticed it. Then Norway would have had to storm the field for them to notice it.”
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And speaking after the game, Norway boss Stale Solbakken claimed the overhead wires deserve an assist for the goal. He said: “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.”
Before he added: “I can’t say anything about that because FIFA. 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 Orjan, 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.”
While Norway forward Alexander Sorloth claimed: "You see the power Orjan puts into the ball, and I position myself further up, because I see it going far. So I have to go further up, and then suddenly it just drops and dies out. So it must be a drop."
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