Solbakken Voices Frustration Over Spidercam Incident
Norway manager Stale Solbakken has expressed his belief that the ball struck the overhead Spidercam cable before Jude Bellingham scored England's equaliser in their World Cup quarter-final, contradicting FIFA's official statement on the matter. The incident occurred in first-half stoppage time, with the score at 1-1 after Norway had taken an early lead through Andreas Schjelderup.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Solbakken said: "Many on the bench reacted immediately. I was not one of them. I can't say anything about that because FIFA, if there is no sound in the chip, what can I say against that?" He added: "The ball drops straight down from heaven. I saw another way just then so I also don't know what happened. I think it's pretty clear that it did and yeah, it was a strange thing."
FIFA's Statement and Technology
FIFA released a statement clarifying that the connected ball technology showed no peak in the 'heartbeat of the ball' when it was in the air, indicating no contact with the overhead wire. 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."
England manager Thomas Tuchel backed the technology, saying: "I heard that but there's a chip in the ball which can tell you if a hair touches it as we know since the Croatia vs Portugal game, they should be able to tell you if it happened. I think we just got lucky in decisive moments."
Norway's Disallowed Goal Controversy
The match also saw controversy over a disallowed Norway goal, scored by Torbjorn Heggem, which was ruled out for a foul by Erling Haaland on Elliot Anderson. Norwegian goalscorer Andreas Schjelderup expressed his frustration, stating: "I don't think the 2-1 goal should have been disallowed. If it's a free kick, then you can give a lot of free kicks during a football match. It's a very soft foul, and I actually feel a bit robbed. It was a crazy moment."
Schjelderup, who scored Norway's opening goal, added: "It's fun to score your first World Cup goal on an occasion like that. He acknowledges that perhaps the shooting wasn't entirely intentional. It was a mix of a shot and a cross. I choose to believe that it was my late grandmother who guided that ball into the goal."
