This was confirmed by Ståle Solbakken at a press conference on Tuesday.
– Fredrik has been telling me for quite some time that he needs to breathe between the games in Benfica. We have had an ongoing dialogue about how to make this work. I managed to persuade him for a long time that he should not retire, but we also agreed that if he felt the same need to, what shall we say, do something else when we are in the national team, says Solbakken.
FIRST – AND LAST? Fredrik Aursnes, pictured here after he scored his first – and probably last – national team goal for Norway. It came in a 4-0 win over Cyprus last year.
Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB
– Keeps the door open
The news came like lightning from the blue when Ståle Solbakken met the press on Tuesday to present the national team squad for the upcoming private international matches against the Czech Republic and Slovakia later in March.
– I feel that I want more time and freedom to prioritize other things than football in my life. That is why I choose to join the national team, Aursnes begins in a press release, and continues:
BENFICA STARS: Versatile Fredrik Aursnes is popular at Benfica, where he fills several roles.
Photo: Armando Franca / AP
– Ståle and I have had good conversations about this over a long period. It is a difficult decision, but something I feel is right for myself and what I want to prioritize.
Solbakken says that this is something he and Aursnes have been talking about for six months. He says that they now agreed that Solbakken does not would try to persuade him to continue longer.
– As of now, Fredrik does not want to be part of us. We keep the door open, if he has second thoughts, says Solbakken.
Sunnmøringen got the national team debut from Ståle Solbakken in June 2021 and has since played 20 games with the Norwegian flag on his chest.
Last year he scored his first, so far only and possibly very last national team goal in a 4-0 win over Cyprus.
– He needs something other than football. When he plays at the level he does, he feels he needs something else to maintain his desire to play football but at the same time lead a meaningful life. We have to respect that, says Solbakken.
DONE: Fredrik Aursnes is done with the Norwegian national team. He got a total of 20 international matches.
Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB
Hareide surprised
NRK’s football expert Åge Hareide, who, like Aursnes, is from Hareid in Sunnmøre, was, like so many others, surprised by the news.
– It is very surprising that he gives up after a good season in the national team. He had several nice international matches. It is a pity. We all need good footballers, and Fredrik is definitely one of them, says Hareide.
The former Norwegian national team manager, who has also managed Denmark and to this day is manager of Iceland’s national team, recognizes the problems surrounding the total load players are exposed to.
He says that he has often had conversations with both Danish and Icelandic players about just that.
– It is a fact that it can be tiring in the long run to be a top player in the club and national team for a long period. You travel a lot with Benfica, and then you have many travel days with the national team when you can have time off and a slower pace. I think many players know that. As he it must be exhausting to have the “drive” to perform at the top in the national team as well, says Hareide.
SURPRISED: NRK’s football expert Åge Hareide.
Photo: Carina Johansen / NTB
Aursnes has become an important piece in Solbakken’s national team, which is chasing Norway’s first championship since the EC in 2000. Hareide is therefore clear that this is a blow for Solbakken.
– It is always a setback to lose good footballers. There are not more Norwegians who play football than we need all the best, but Fredrik probably has his reasons for this.
The youngest cup winner of all time
Aursnes has, since the transition from Dutch to Portuguese football, been a fixture in a Benfica team that has fought for titles and been in the Champions League. There, he has been given an important role in several different positions, and the versatile 28-year-old has played on both backs, in midfield and occasionally as a winger.
Aursnes has been in the limelight for many years. Already as a 16-year-old, he broke through in Hødd, and became the youngest ever cup winner when Hødd sensationally won the cup in 2012. On the way to the cup triumph, he played big for Hødd in the semi-final against Brann:
16-year-old Fredrik Aursnes was one of the heroes when Hødd beat Brann 3–1 and made it to the cup final in 2012. Aursnes scored Hødd’s first goal and was celebrated with a cake at school.
Since then, Aursnes has played for Molde, Feyenoord and Benfica, which will now be his only football focus going forward.
The Aursnes news unsurprisingly became the big topic when Solbakken presented the squad for the year’s first international matches. You can see the squad in its entirety here.
Norway’s squad against the Czech Republic and Slovakia
Expand/minimize fact box
These are Ståle Solbakken’s selections for the private international matches against the Czech Republic and Slovakia:
Goalkeepers: Ørjan Håskjold Nyland (Sevilla), Egil Selvik (FK Haugesund), Mathias Dyngeland (Brann)
Defenders: Julian Ryerson (Dortmund), Marcus Holmgren Pedersen (Sassuolo), Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (Brentford), Leo Skiri Østigård (Napoli), Fredrik Bjørkan (Bodø/Glimt), Andreas Hanche-Olsen (Mainz), Jesper Daland (Cercle Brugge), David Moller Wolfe (AZ Alkmaar)
Midfielders: Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal), Sander Berge (Burnley), Patrick Berg (Bodø/Glimt), Oscar Bobb (Manchester City), Kristian Thorstvedt (Sassuolo), Aron Dønnum (Toulouse), Mohamed Elyounoussi (FC Copenhagen), Hugo Vetlesen (Club Bruges), Osame Sarhaoui (Heerenveen)
Attackers: Erling Braut Haaland (Manchester City), Alexander Sørloth (Villarreal), Jørgen Strand Larsen (Celta Vigo)
The first international matches of the year
In the matches against the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Norway will face EC opposition, as both are ready for this summer’s championship in Germany. The Czech Republic is ranked number 40 in the Fifa rankings, six places ahead of Norway.
Slovakia, on the other hand, is ranked number 48.
This will be Solbakken’s first match against the Czech Republic as manager of the Norwegian national team. The last time the Norwegian team met the Czech Republic was in 2017, long before Solbakken’s time, and that match ended 1–1. Then Alexander Søderlund scored Norway’s goal.
The Czech Republic is an opponent Norway has traditionally struggled against. Norway has only beaten the Czech Republic, which has profiles such as Tomas Soucek (West Ham) and Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), only once in eight attempts. Norway’s only win against the Czechs came in 2011, in a 3-0 victory in which Mohammed Abdellaoue and John Arne Riise scored the goals.
THAT TIME: Congratulations to Mohammed Abdellaoue for his 1-0 goal against the Czech Republic in 2011. “Moa”, as he was best known, scored twice in that game.
Photo: Aleksander Andersen / NTB
The Norwegian national team will get the chance to embellish that statistic on Friday 22 March.
A few days later, on Tuesday 26 March, Norway meets Slovakia. The last time they met, in 2022, Norway won 2–0 after goals from Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard.
Now, with Aursnes out of the picture, the two Norwegian star players become even more important for Solbakken & co.
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