Coronavirus: Norway in Austria without Erling Haaland or Martin Odegaard

His team A having been quarantined after the detection of a positive case in its ranks, Norway will send a completely revamped formation and deprived of its stars for the last League of Nations meeting against Austria on Wednesday (8:45 p.m.) .

A decisive match to know who will finish at the top of Group 1 of League B. Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) and Martin Odegaard (Real Madrid), in particular, will be absent. Like the rest of the selection, the two stars must observe forty after having rubbed shoulders during the preparation right-back Omar Elabdellaoui, tested positive for Covid-19.

“We had to make difficult choices but we are happy now that the match can be played”

On the night of Sunday to Monday, the Norwegian Football Federation finally announced that it would set up an emergency team after reaching an agreement on this point with the country’s health authorities. For a reason that has not been explained, this team will be made up entirely of professionals playing outside Norway, with the exception of one player who plays in the Norwegian Championship and has contracted the virus in the recent past.

“We had to make difficult choices but we are happy now that the match can be played, both from a sporting point of view and in relation to our commitments vis-à-vis UEFA and the competition in which we are participating”Federation secretary general Pal Bjerketvedt said in a statement.

On Saturday evening, UEFA canceled the match between Romania and Norway scheduled for the next day in the same competition, the Norwegian government having – to the chagrin of the Federation – ordered the A team not to make the trip so as not to violate the quarantine rules. The squad that will meet Austria at the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna will be revealed this Monday at the end of the morning. The selected players are due to assemble in Norway, where they will remain confined before flying away on Tuesday.