Brazil have never beaten Norway in international football – a unique bit of football trivia that has become the most repeated stat in the football world in the past few days, ever since it was confirmed that the two teams would face off in a World Cup knockout.
The South Americans and Norwegians will face off in the Round of 16 in New Jersey in the early hours of Monday (Bangladesh time), to decide who will progress to the quarterfinals.
Till now, Brazil have faced Norway four times in total, losing twice and drawing the other two times.
The more famous of the two defeats came in the 1998 World Cup, when Norway’s Tore’ Andre Flo and Kjetil Rekdal struck late to cancel out Bebeto’s 78-minute strike and earn them a stunning 2-1 win in the group stage.
Brazil recovered from the defeat and finished as runners-up, while Norway could not go past the group stage and failed to qualify for the next six World Cups.
The world may have forgotten the ‘Miracle in Marseille’, but the Norwegians never did, cherishing it as the greatest day in their football history.
On the 20-year anniversary of that win, a Norwegian newspaper ‘Aftenposten’ took the initiative to host a rematch with the same set of players in Oslo, to celebrate the event.
The match was the brainchild of journalist Juliane Manica, a Brazilian who lived in Norway and was tired of hearing taunts from the locals about that one defeat in 1998.
“I always heard: ‘Oh, Norway always beats Brazil, you guys never win.’ And that story went on for 20 years. Then one day I talked to my husband [who is Norwegian] and said: ‘I can’t take this anymore.’ I wanted to have a rematch of that game, just to put an end to this story. And he said: ‘Why don’t we do it?’” she was quoted by Brazilian outlet Globo.
When she broached the idea to her editor, he was willing to step up as one of the sponsors, but had one condition – “He told me, ‘If you bring Ronaldo, we’ll do it.’”
The players of that match – all long since retired – were approached and many of them agreed to come.
As for Ronaldo Nazario, the striker also agreed to participate, not as a player – as he couldn’t risk his injury-laden body – but as a coach.
The Ullevaal Stadium was booked, and around 20,000 tickets were sold for the much-hyped tie.
A total of 18 players who featured in the 1998 match played that game – 12 from Norway and six from Brazil – including Rivaldo and Bebeto.
Even in that friendly game, the Norway veterans tried their best to recreate the magic of 1998.
Leo Doria, a Brazilian who lived in Oslo and worked as the Brazil team’s interpreter for the event, recalled a conversation he had with Bebeto after the match.
“I remember Bebeto taking a hard tackle and saying to me: ‘Hey, Leo, in a game like that, making a tackle like that.’ Because they have this thing about never having lost to Brazil and they didn't want to lose that game at all. But they were crushed in that game. But it didn't really matter, you know?” Leo told Globo.
But it didn’t matter as the Brazilian veterans, aided by a few recently-retired players, crushed the hosts 3-0.
Ronaldo barked in instructions from the touchline, Rivaldo pulled the strings in the midfield as Edmundo, Giovanni and Gabriel scored.
However, the win did little to heal Brazil’s old wounds or stop Norway from bragging about their spotless record against the five-time world champions.
In New Jersey, Brazil will have the chance to finally get rid of their Norway hoodoo for good. And if they fail, Norway will script their biggest ever win in football.