NORWAY full-back John Arne Riise believes there is still everything to play for in the quest to reach the World Cup finals, following his side's 0-0 draw at Hampden.
The Norwegians have collected two points from as many games and sit two behind second-placed Scotland in Group Nine.
Riise expects plenty of twists and turns in the campaign – and he hopes one such surprise comes on Wednesday when Holland visi
t Oslo looking to maintain their perfect record.
The Roma player felt Saturday's stalemate at Hampden was a fair result and discounted claims that Scotland have left themselves too much to do after taking four points from three games.
"They are ahead of us at the moment," said the former Liverpool player. "We have a tough game against Holland on Wednesday. After that game, we will have all played three games – so we will see what it's like then.
"We don't have to get a result against Holland, but obviously it would help our qualification prospects. I think there are going to be a few upsets before this group is finished, and I hope there will be one on Wednesday."
Riise was shocked when Scotland debutant Chris Iwelumo missed an open goal from inside the six-yard box. But he also pointed out that both John Carew and Steffen Iversen had good chances for his team.
"At first, I thought he was offside," Riise said of Iwelumo. "But I'm not sure now. When the referee didn't blow the whistle and I saw him miss, I couldn't believe it. They had a few other chances, and so did we – so I think it's a fair result.
"Chance-wise, I think we won the game. But player-wise, they had all the pressure on us – especially in the second half for 15 or 20 minutes – without creating that many chances. Overall, we are satisfied with a draw – and I think Scotland are as well, because we could have won it at the end with a big chance for Carew.
"We came here to win. We knew for the first 15 to 20 minutes there would be pressure on us but we just stayed back and stayed compact and let the Scotland team run it off. Then we took over a little bit and created something.
"The same happened in the second half – there was a 15-minute spell where the pressure was very high. But I think our defence kept a good line, and we fought well."
The full article contains 424 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
