Martin Odegaard gives fighting talk saying 'underdogs' Norway can take game to England

Martin Odegaard said Norway will take the game to England in their World Cup quarter-final against England.

Labelling his side as the "underdogs", the Arsenal midfielder has backed the Scandinavians to repeat their brilliant 2-1 victory against Brazil on Thomas Tuchel's side.

Odegaard said: "Obviously we know the quality they have. I know them really well.

"Outstanding players, world-class players, playing for probably one of the best national teams in the world at the moment, so it's going to be a big test for us.

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"But I think Brazil was the same. We were the underdogs and, as you saw, anything can happen in football, so, yeah, we're going to give it a good try and see what we can do and looking forward to it.

"It's true that a lot of us play in England, so we know them quite well. Obviously, we've been playing against a lot of these players in the league, so we know them, but it's about the whole team.

"We have to be prepared, we have to analyse the opponent like we always do and we have to have the belief in ourselves.

"I think we've shown the whole world that we're a good team and, as I said, in football anything is possible, and even though we're the underdogs again, let's see what happens.

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"Let's prepare well and let's keep enjoying our football and this moment together, so let's see."

The contest, scheduled for 10pm on Saturday night, will see the two European nations bid to face either Argentina or Switzerland in the last four.

Norway journeyed to Florida on Tuesday, training at Inter Miami's facilities in Fort Lauderdale the following day.

England have remained at their base in Kansas City, staying there until Friday.

Commenting on the hot conditions, Odegaard said: "I think it's a big change for all of us.

"We're from Norway, so we're not used to this type of weather.

"But I think the good thing is we've been here for a while now. We came early to America, and we're really used to it now, and I feel like we've been really good in the games.

"Maybe one of the games we had a lot of cramps in that, but apart from that, yeah, I think it's going well, and we're used to it now, so it's not a big problem."

The main threat for England to cope with will be Norway's talisman Erling Haaland.

The striker has seven goals so far at this World Cup, well in pursuit of the golden boot.

He scored two goals in Norway's victory against Brazil in the latter part of the second half, guiding them through to the last eight.

It will be a tough test for England's backline, with question marks still looming over who will start at right-back.

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