OSLO-TBILISI, September 4, 2024- The 2024 European Football Championship is still in the spotlight of football experts and fans from different countries. The author of these lines was convinced of this during his stay in Oslo, where he managed to meet with Karl Petter Løken the Secretary General of the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF).
In 1985-1996, as a player of the “Rosenborg” club, Løken became the champion of Norway 7 times, 4 times the winner of the national cup, 1 time the scorer, in 1987-1995 he was a football player of the Norwegian national team, was in the national team at the 1994 World Cup, but due to injury he did not play in the championship. After finishing socer’s career, K. Løken became a popular TV commentator, and since the beginning of 2023 – the Secretary General of the NFF.
– How do you rank the level of the 2024 European Championship and the performance of the Georgian national team on it?
– First of all, I would like to sincerely congratulate the Georgian national team on their fantastic beautiful performance at the European Championship in Germany. True, in the 1/8 finals, the Georgian national team lost to Spain and was unable to continue the championship, but at first – Georgia showed a spectacular game on the European Championship matches and won the sympathy of spectators and experts at the end – Georgia lost in the 1/8 to the Spanish national team – the future European champion. Overall, the European Championship was held at a high level, it was a great tournament. In this European Championship, the teams of small countries were able to show themselves, first of all, this applies to Georgia, which played successfully in its group and reached the 1/8 .
– How do you rate the chances of the Georgian and Norwegian national teams to qualify for the 2026 World Cup?
– It will be much difficult to get to the World Cup than to the European Championship. We have not to forget that only 16 countries will represent Europe at the World Cup, but 24 countries played at the European Championship. Both the Georgian and Norwegian national teams will have to overcome great competition to get to the 2026 World Cup. In addition, mainly it depends on the results of the upcoming draw for the qualifying tournament, on who will play with whom on the qualifying tournament 2026 World Championship.-0-
Tengiz Pachkoria –AIPS Member
Photo 1-3 K. Løken and T. Pachkoria, Oslo
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