'Unforgivable defending' led to Norway's downfall in Amsterdam says frustrated Solbakken

Solbakken showed clear dissatisfaction with the way the Dutch skipper and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk was tracked during the home sides equalising strike, which followed Andreas Schjelderups opener that had put the away team in front during the opening 45 minutes.

"There was a lack of body contact for their first goal. You have seen that in the Premier League many times, so it is very unnecessary. Of course he can score", he said. "The fact that he was allowed to rise for the ball so easily was unforgivable."

Alexander Sorloth of Atletico Madrid was the nearest Norwegian to van Dijk in that moment. He shared Solbakkens view that the imposing defender needed to be kept under tighter control.

"The fact that he was allowed so much space should not happen. We, who were in the zone have to head the ball out, so it was a shame. Several mistakes allowed him to jump free there", said Sorloth to NRK.

"I think I would have liked to have been in front of van Dijk. At the same time, we should have someone on him so that he could not jump unhindered. I could have been there, and he should not have been allowed to jump unhindered. It was a collective failure."

Van Dijk clearly relished netting the equaliser: "It was a very good ball into the box. I got some space to score on it. It wasn't easy, because there were a lot of players around. But I'm glad I managed to find some space", he said to NRK.