Flonaldo ices Brazil
Brazil were expected to make light work of Norway at France 1998, but Tore Andre Flo dazzled as Egil Olsen’s team rallied remarkably to reach the last 16.
France 1998 | Group stage Stade Velodrome, Marseille Attendance: 55,000 Brazil goal: Bebeto (78) Norway goals: Tore Andre Flo (83), Kjetil Rekdal pen (89)
Coach: Mario Zagallo. Starting XI: Taffarel; Cafu, Junior Baiano, Goncalves, Roberto Carlos; Dunga, Leonardo; Rivaldo, Denilson; Ronaldo, Bebeto. Substitutions: None.
Coach: Egil Olsen. Starting XI: Frode Grodas; Henning Berg, Dan Eggen, Ronny Johnsen, Stig Bjornebye; Havard Flo, Kjetil Rekdal, Roar Strand, Oyvind Leonhardsen, Vidar Riseth; Tore Andre Flo. Substitutions: Erik Mykland for Strand (46), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Havard Flo (68), Jostein Flo for Riseth (79).
1 Norway win 1 draw 0 Brazil wins
‘O Fenômeno’ and his electric dribbling terrorised the men in red from the first whistle. The 21-year-old also sent Cafu through on goal with an imaginative chested pass, and fizzed a cross across goal Bebeto was inches away from turning in.
At the other end, Flo thrived with his hold-up play, craft and aerial ability, and examined Taffarel’s hands. The deadlock was finally fractured in the 78th minute. Denilson, while on the turf, ingeniously dragged the ball around his body, sprung up and put it on a plate for Bebeto at the back post. It triggered an implausible escape. First, Stig Inge Bjornebye stroked a superb pass round the back of the Brazil backline for Flo to run on to. The striker craftily twisted inside Junior Baiano and slipped the adidas Tricolore home. Rather than celebrate, Flo rushed back for the restart, aware Norway had merely minutes to find another goal. They dramatically got it when Junior Baiano pulled Flo’s shirt, Esfandiar Baharmast pointed to paint, and Kjetil Rekdal contained his nerves to beat penalty-saving specialist Taffarel from 12 yards. “The man in the yellow boots has hurt those wearing the yellow shirts,” declared Norwegian commentator Arne Scheie.
The worst damage was nevertheless done by another Nordic knight. The showdown finished, as many foresaw, belonging to a No9. It was not, however, one born along south-east Brazil’s blazing beaches, but beside Scandinavia’s biggest glacier. ‘Flonaldo’ had eclipsed Ronaldo and got Norway through the group stage for the first time.
“The night before the game, I had a dream that I would score the winner with a late penalty. In the dressing room, I was singing that I was going to score the winner with a late penalty. When we were awarded the penalty, Ole Gunnar [Solskjaer] came up to me and said, ‘Now you’ve got the chance to do what you said you were going to do’. I had talked the talk and now had to walk the walk! Fortunately I managed to score. It was a feeling of great relief and joy.” Kjetil Rekdal
“Seeing the [Brazil] team sheet was like getting kicked in the stomach. Having to beat Brazil’s reserves to stay in the World Cup is hard enough, but to having to beat their full-strength team felt like everything was against us. Ronaldo was virtually unstoppable at the time. We knew we needed an almost-perfect performance both defensively and offensively, and we all gave it everything we had. Tore Andre was outstanding.” Dan Eggen “The atmosphere was amazing. There were a lot of Norwegians there, making a lot of noise, and obviously the Brazilians were too. Scoring against Brazil in a World Cup was an amazing feeling, but winning the match, after being behind with 10 minutes to go, was even better. We knew we’d made history for Norway, given joy to our people, and that was indescribable.” Tore Andre Flo
Norway’s starting line-up was an incredible 70 centimetres taller than Brazil’s. Havard Flo (1.87 metres), Frode Grodas (1.87m), Kjetil Rekdal (1.87m), Vidar Riseth (1.89m), Ronny Johnsen (1.90m), Dan Egger (1.92m), Jostein Flo (1.92m) and Tore Andre Flo (1.93m) ran out in red that day. By half-time, Norwegians had staggeringly been left on their backsides 12 times in attempts to challenge Ronaldo.
Norway became the first team in history to survive their first three games against Brazil without suffering defeat – a record that remains intact. Brazil lost for the first time in 10 World Cup matches. Their last defeat had been 1-0 to Argentina in the last 16 of Italy 1990.
In the run-up to France 1998, Hennig-Olsen launched an ice cream named Flonaldo – a play on Ronaldo in tribute to Tore Andre. It was pistachio flavoured with a dark chocolate topping. Norway, despite being one of the planet’s coldest countries, is among the top consumers of ice cream per capita. ‘Flonaldo’ rapidly became the Norway No9’s nickname.
Unbelievably, one hour before the match kicked off, a wedding took place on the Stade Velodrome turf. Norwegian Oyvind Ekkland went on holiday to Rio de Janeiro in 1990 and was kicking a ball around on Ipanema beach when he cast his eyes on his own ‘Girl From Ipanema’. Rosangela de Souza was soon living with him in Oslo. When Brazil and Norway were drawn In Group A together in December 1997, Oyvind came up with the crazy idea of them getting married on 23 June 1998 at the Velodrome, and it somehow came off!
Amazingly, Frode Grodas hadn’t made a single appearance at club level in any competition in over 13 months. The 33-year-old’s last had been in the 1997 FA Cup final, where he kept a clean sheet for Chelsea in victory over a Middlesbrough side featuring Brazilians Emerson and Juninho Paulista. Grodas had spent the 1997/98 season as Tottenham Hotspur’s third-choice goalkeeper. Curiously, their second-choice goalkeeper was his Norway deputy Espen Baardsen.
For the first time in history, three relatives played in a World Cup game. Skiing was the dominant sport in Stryn, the silent county where they grew up, but brothers Jostein and Tore Andre Flo, along with their cousin Havard, loved football and used to play it with a table tennis ball!