Norway's men's national team received a visit from the country's anti-doping agency this week, but while this is a regular occurrence in football, what made this instance notable was the players who were asked to undergo testing.
The list of players required to provide a urine sample included Manchester City's Erling Haaland, but also Jorgen Juve and Einar Gundersen, two of Norway's leading goalscorers, but neither of them are alive. Juve died in 1983 and Gundersen in 1962.
“We received a visit from Anti-Doping Norway [on Tuesday]”The following players have been selected for trials: Erling Braut Haaland, Jørgen Strand Larsen, Antonio Nusa, Oscar Bobb, Einar Gundersen and Jorgen Juve.
“Then I started to wonder. Those were the names that were read out and it was serious. We had to call the Norwegian anti-doping agency and ask if there was a hidden camera. So they called Einar Gundersen and Jorgen Juve. It was a bit late. Both of them tested negative.”
Solbakken added: “They've probably taken the list of top scorers and added a few names.”
While Haaland and Larsen were with the squad, 21-year-old Bobb was not with the group as he was out with injury for three months due to a broken leg.
As for Gundersen and Juve, their place in Norwegian football history is assured. Juve scored 33 goals for Norway between 1928 and 1937, while Gundersen scored 26 goals between 1917 and 1928.
“It's hard to say what happened, but we usually get it right,” Anti-Doping Norway (ADNO) communications director Halvor Byfuglien told VG newspaper.
“The only thing we can do now is admit that we were wrong. We can joke about it in the office today and then review our routines from now on.”
