Egil Olsen: The controversial Marxist who masterminded Norway's last win over Brazil

[p]Just six months before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/norway/8rP6JO0H/"]Norway[/a] launched their emphatic campaign to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, winning eight successive matches in the process, Stale Solbakken's men missed out on the EURO 2024 finals as defensive errors in their qualifying campaign continued to haunt them.[/p][p]Despite possessing world-class attacking talent like [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/odegaard-martin/ID32TGhp/"]Martin Odegaard[/a], Solbakken's side consistently dropped crucial points from winning positions due to defensive lapses in concentration, which became most evident when a 1-0 lead at home against Scotland turned into a 2-1 defeat within the last three minutes of the game.[/p][p][b]"With the players we have at our disposal, we need to try to dictate games. Talent development in Norway led us to somewhat neglect the defensive side of things. That caused us to miss out on EURO 2024 due to major individual errors. But I am very pleased that we stood firm and didn't let ourselves be tempted to revert to the 90s,"[/b] Solbakken said in an interview with [i]TV2 Sport.[/i][/p][embed guid="6071039d-b33e-43d7-88da-bb36cca5efda" url="https://x.com/FIFAMuseum/status/1579916216847982592" social-type="twitter" /][p]Solbakken refers to a point in time when Norway, following a 60-year drought, suddenly shot up the world ranking and managed to qualify for two successive World Cups (1994 and 1998) after adopting a pragmatic, highly structured zonal defence designed to frustrate the elite nations.[/p][p]The mastermind behind the tactical philosophy that would prioritise structural discipline, risk-aversion, and compact spacing over individual technical flair was Egil 'Drillo' Olsen, a former talented winger who earned 16 caps for Norway and earned his nickname in the process thanks to his exceptional dribbling skills and technical ability.[/p][p][b]When Egil 'Drillo' Olsen took over as Norway’s caretaker manager in October 1990, the national team reeled from a string of poor results under former coach Ingvar Stadheim and was widely regarded as a third-rate side without tactical identity.[/b][/p][embed guid="11752949-c2de-4c69-b026-2cd7f613cbe7" url="https://x.com/FootyTimeless/status/2073585064059769049" social-type="twitter" /][p]Drillo took over a squad that had just suffered defeats to the Soviet Union and Sweden, and had not qualified for a major tournament since the 1938 FIFA World Cup. But when Drillo introduced a revolutionary, data-driven approach by employing a rigid 4-5-1 formation with emphasis on physical fitness, effective counter-attacks, and long balls forward, he managed to turn an average squad into a global powerhouse.[/p][p]In 88 matches, Drillo led Norway to an impressive record of 46 wins, 26 draws, and only 16 losses as they rose to an astonishing position of second in the FIFA rankings.[/p][p][b]His crowning achievement arrived at the 1998 World Cup in France when Norway famously [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/brazil-I9l9aqLq/norway-8rP6JO0H/?mid=zojcP8cg"]defeated the defending champions Brazil 2-1 in Marseille[/a], progressing to the Round of 16 before they narrowly crashed out of the tournament against Italy.[/b][/p][p]While Drillo, who returned to coach the national team between 2009 and 2013, went on to become a legendary figure in his home country, he was less respected outside of Norway's borders for a number of reasons.[/p][p]His tactical reliance on long balls, low defensive blocks, and actively giving up ball possession drew harsh criticism from coaches like Johan Cruyff, Morten Olsen, and Bobby Robson.[/p][embed guid="1cf1d14c-3d6a-4cf3-bcee-a226f563425a" url="https://x.com/bestemenn/status/1603638555523158021" social-type="twitter" /][p]His far-left, Marxist political views did not win him many friends either, and being a former communist who abstained from alcohol and cars, he would often force players to walk to training (during his time at Wimbledon) and also drew attention for stopping strangers on the street to blame them for smoking. He was further taunted for famously wearing green 'wellies' (Wellington boots) on the touchline in an effort to combat his rheumatism.[/p][p]Drillo's final exit from the Norwegian national team ended in controversy in 2013 when he, in a very chaotic and public manner, was replaced by Per-Mathias Hogmo shortly before a World Cup qualifying match. The controversy later forced the federation to issue a formal apology to Drillo for how the process was handled.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/brazil-I9l9aqLq/norway-8rP6JO0H/?mid=tpOhKWcC"]Norway will face Brazil on Sunday at 22.00 CET[/a] at the MetLife Stadium in New York in the Round of 16 of the ongoing World Cup, looking to claim a second famous win over the Selecao.[/b][/p][video alt="Brazil vs Norway (video preview)" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e808ae02-5312-4114-95ef-9f3ec863dcd5" id="85a7f976-dda3-4367-910f-ad84c94417e2" /]