Friends face off in Oslo
Friends face off in Oslo
Berlin – A friendship will be temporarily suspended for 90 minutes when Norway meet the Czech Republic in a World Cup qualifier. Both Rune Jarstein and Vladimir Darida are well aware of this fact. “It’s a tremendously important game. We both need to win in order to have a chance at finishing second in the group, so of course we’re not going to play nice,” stated Darida. Jarstein backed his colleague up, with whom he’s spent countless hours on the pitch with. “I’m looking forward to playing against him, but it’s not about us, it’s about the fixture.”
Both Jarstein and Darida are under pressure in the run-up to the game in Oslo (kick off 20:45), and the situation is a rather complicated one: The Czech Republic’s eight points after five games puts them in third place in Group C, behind Germany (15 points) and Northern Ireland (10 points). Norway are fifth with just three points, but both are in desperate need of a win because only the team that finishes in second place can participate in the Russia World Cup 2018 playoffs. “We only have a chance in theory, but we want to show that we have what it takes,” said Jarstein, who will be the only Blue-White available to his national squad after Per Skjelbred had to pull out.
No shortage of words exchanged
The game also has a special meaning for the ‘Vikings’ because it’s new manager Lars Lagerbäck’s first game in charge at home. The Swedish 68-year-old most recently caused a sensation with Iceland in the 2016 European Championship. “A debut-win would be a good sign,” remarked the Berlin shot-stopper.
What’s clear is that the encounter will be an unusual one for the two Hertha friends, as they’ll now see each other as opponents. “We know each other well from our time on the pitch. We tend to stay behind and practise with each other after training,” said Rune Jarstein, before adding: “We’re only focused on the game against the Czech Republic.” Darida was out with an injury in the reverse-fixture in Norway, which Jarstein’s Norway lost 2-1. Now, both players are fired up for the match after the newly-wed Jarstein and Hertha midfielder Darida have had short breaks recovering from the end of the Bundesliga season.
No shots have been fired prior to the match, but the Berlin players haven’t exactly totally refrained from speaking out here and there. “We keep each other updated. I told Rune that I wanted to score against him,” Darida revealed with a smile. “I know that Vladi’s keen to do that. I’ll have to be alert to make sure he doesn’t succeed...” said Jarstein. The two players have something to look forward to after agreeing to give a joint-interview on Norwegian TV just one day before they face off against one another on the pitch. One thing is for certain: The two players will embrace one another regardless of the outcome of the game after the 90 minutes are up.
He says...
[>]I told Rune that I wanted to score against him[<]
| Date | Player | Game | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 05/06/17t | Vladimir Darida | Belgium vs. Czech Republic | 2-1 | |
| Tuesday | 06/06/17 | Marvin Plattenhardtt | Denmark vs. Germany | 1-1 | |
| Wednesday | 07/06/17 | Genki Haraguchi | Japan vs. Syria | 1-1 | |
| Friday | 09/06/17 | Vedad Ibisevic | Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Greecet | 0-0 | |
| Saturday | 10/06/17 | Marvin Plattenhardtt | Germany vs. San Marino | ||
| Saturday | 10/06/17 | Peter Pekarik | Ondrej Duda | Lithuania vs. Slovakia | |
| Saturday | 10/06/17 | Vladimir Darida | Norway vs. Czech Republic | ||
| Saturday | 10/06/17 | Rune Jarsteint | Norway vs. Czech Republic | ||
| Tuesday | 13/06/17 | Genki Haraguchi | Iraq vs. Japan | ||
| Tuesday | 13/06/17 | Rune Jarsteint | Norway vs. Sweden | ||
| 17/06 - 02/07/17 | Marvin Plattenhardtt | Confederations Cup | |||
| 13/06 - 30/06/17 | Niklas Stark | Mitchell Weisert | U21 Euros | ||
| 20/05 - 11/06/17 | Maximilian Mittelstädt | Jordan Torunarighat | U20 World Cup |