Lars Bohinen Says Norway’s World Cup Players Are Built Differently Now
Norway’s world cup players are being measured against the 1994 side that scored only once and finished fourth in its group. Lars Bohinen says the current team looks built for more than that, with Ståle Solbakken’s squad described as faster, more flexible and better on the ball than the group he played in 32 years ago.
Lars Bohinen and Norway 1994
“When we got there we didn’t manage to even get close to the quality of play we had produced in qualification,” Bohinen said of the 1994 World Cup in the United States. “That’s the biggest disappointment when I talk now to my old teammates. We never got near to performing at the level we needed.”
That team had done something Norway had not managed since 1938: reach a World Cup. It also qualified at England’s expense, then stumbled through a difficult group and ended up fourth on points and goal difference. Norway beat Mexico 1-0 and drew 0-0 with Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland at Giants Stadium, but the attack produced only one goal across the tournament.
Ståle Solbakken’s New Shape
Bohinen drew the sharpest contrast in style. “Back then we played much more direct, physical football,” he said. “Now we can control the game with the ball and that’s a big difference.”
He pointed to the players around Solbakken as the reason the current side carries a different profile. Erling Haaland leads the attack, while Martin Ødegaard and Antonio Nusa supply technical quality in front of him. Bohinen said the players’ technical level has increased and so has the speed, which he tied to years of professionalizing academy work at Norwegian clubs, along with better coaches, better infrastructure and better pitches.
Flo Pass To Modern Norway
The 1994 side still leaned on a simple formula. Bohinen described the Flo Pass — the crossfield ball from Stig Inge Bjørnebye to Jostein Flo — and the chase that followed. “We had that pass going left to right,” he said. “Then we had to pick up the second balls from those duels. From then we had to try to get close to goal as soon as possible. That was the whole aim really: get close to goal quickly. And in the heat of the States, it was too much.”
That warning hangs over the present group because the comparison is not about nostalgia. Norway’s current push is built on a more technical base and a more varied attack, but the 1994 tournament is still the standard for how a promising qualifying campaign can fall short once the World Cup starts. The old group left the United States with one goal and no route out; this one is being judged by whether it can turn better tools into a better finish.
