EXCLUSIVE: 'Tsunami' of euphoria has helped Norway handle national crisis, says Viking coach

Norway have been swept by a massive wave of football euphoria following the national team's qualification for the World Cup to end what has been an agonising 28-year tournament drought for the Scandinavian nation. An entire generation of fans who have never experienced 'The Lions' on football's biggest stage during a final round tournament has erupted in celebrations across the country.

The wave of national euphoria has overall been supercharged by Norway's historically dominant performance in the qualifying campaign under the reign of Stale Solbakken, which saw them win all eight matches while scoring an incredible 37 goals and conceding just five.

Leading up to the tournament, the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) ventured into a collaboration with fine-art photographer David Yarrow, who depicted the squad as rugged Viking warriors inside an Oslo fjord, a photo that took part in generating an immense global hype.

After the emphatic 4-1 victory against Iraq, Norwegian World Cup fever spread as far as the parliament, where elected representatives performed a recreation of Viking rowing that has been made famous by the country's enthusiastic fans attending the tournament across the Atlantic.

Actually, the national euphoria over the accomplishments of Solbakken's men is just what the doctor ordered, as the population has otherwise suffered under the crisis of the Norwegian monarchy.

The monarchy has lately been in the midst of a severe institutional emergency, driven by the critical health issues of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and the unprecedented criminal convictions of her son, Marius Borg Hoiby.

But the national euphoria has helped the Norwegian population forget the troubles of their disgraced monarchy, says coach of Norwegian champions Viking Stavanger, Morten Jensen, in this first part of an interview with Flashscore.

"We are all incredibly proud of our royal family, and we hope that they manage to come through the situation in a good manner. Of course, the population has been affected by the situation, but as it happened, the success of the national team couldn't have come at a better time. On the back of the events, it seems like the national team has managed to make the Norwegians come together as a nation again," says Jensen.

Actually its only about four months ago that Johannes Klaebo launched an enormous wave of national pride in Norway when he claimed the all-time Winter Olympic record, with an astonishing 11 career gold medals and 13 overall medals after redefining modern cross-country skiing with his revolutionary, explosive and ruthless uphill technique.

But where Klaebo left off, Erling Haaland took over as snow was replaced by grass. And the euphoria wasn't diminished by the fact that Solbakken's men got their final tournament off to a glorious start against Iraq, says Jensen.

"My family will join me in the USA during the World Cup, and they weren't able to get kits in Norway; everything is sold out. There has been an enormous hunger throughout Norway to reach a final round, and it has built up like a big tsunami.

"Many times, we thought that we would succeed with other generations, but we failed at the finish line, so what we are experiencing now is years of frustrations and joy erupting in a big explosion. And when you see the support from fans in Norway and not least all the people who have travelled across the Atlantic, it makes you believe that miracles can be accomplished."

Jensen also underlines that there is a sense of new togetherness in the national team, which has made the Norwegian population gather around the team in a manner that Norway has never experienced before, also thanks to the efforts of coach Solbakken and assistant coach Brede Hangeland.

He explains: "In the old days, it was usually nine stars from Rosenborg who were there, and the rest played in Europe. Now there is a good mix of players from all over Norway, from the north to the south of the country, and from the east and west. 

"Earlier national team coaches would travel to watch players abroad, but Solbakken and Hangeland have spent a lot of time watching matches in the Norwegian Eliteserie to find the right players, which has reinforced the feeling of something uniquely Norwegian.

"So it really is a national team for the people," Jensen concludes.

The second part of our interview with Viking coach Morten Jensen will be published on Monday. Norway will play their next match in the World Cup on Tuesday morning (02.00 CET) against Senegal.