Football
2018 International Friendly, International Friendly
NOR 
4
FT
 AUS
1
AAP 6y

Socceroos slump to friendly defeat to Ola Kamara and Norway

Ola Kamara scored a hat trick as Norway dealt Bert van Marwijk a rude awakening in his first match as Australia coach with the Socceroos slumping to a dismal 4-1 loss in Oslo on Friday.

The hosts, who sit 20 places below the 37th-ranked Socceroos, dominated from the start and were full value for their win in front of a sparse crowd at a bitterly cold Ullevaal Stadium.

Three goals from the LA Galaxy's Kamara and a header from Tore Reginiussen secured the emphatic victory after Jackson Irvine had given the Socceroos the lead with a 19th-minute header.

Van Marwijk handed debuts to Dimi Petratos and Andrew Nabbout in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Bailey Wright named in an uncustomary right-back role.

Norway made all the early running and should have opened the scoring through Bjorn Johnsen who was put clear by skipper Stefan Johansen but he shot straight at Mat Ryan.

Australia offered little in attack but in a rare foray, Nabbout won a corner which was subsequently swung in by Aaron Mooy and Irvine rose unmarked to nod home his second international goal.

Despite the early setback the home side continued to press forward in impressive fashion. The pace of highly rated Mohamed Elyounoussi on the left flank was constant threat to the Socceroos' defence and he was the architect of Kamara's equaliser.

The Basel winger, who scored against Manchester City in a recent Champions League game, skipped past Mark Milligan and his low cross was met first time by Kamara for an easy finish.

Van Marwijk opted against any changes at half-time and before he could shuffle his pack, the hosts scored twice in nine minutes to effectively seal the contest.

Centre-back Reginuissen was given the freedom of Oslo to head past Ryan after Irvine misjudged Johansen's inswinging free kick seven minutes after the break.

Kamara then finished emphatically after latching onto a terrible pass from Ryan intended for Mile Jedinak and fired past the Brighton keeper.

Van Marwijk then made a flurry of changes but it made little difference as Lars Lagerback's side continued to dominate.

Bjorn Johnsen should have extended Norway's lead with a free header that he put over the bar after losing Milligan in the box.

But it was Kamara who had the final word two minutes from time with a curling, low finish to complete his hat-trick and cap off a miserable day for van Marwijk's side who face 13th-ranked Colombia in London on Tuesday.

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