Norway striker Alexander Sorloth has faced heavy online abuse after his team’s World Cup quarter final defeat to England, coach Stale Solbakken said.
The criticism came after a key moment in Saturday’s match. Norway were leading 1-0 when Sorloth chose to shoot instead of passing to an unmarked Erling Haaland during a two on one attack. His effort was blocked.
England scored the equaliser just minutes later. They went on to win the match 2-1 after extra time and reached the semi finals.
Sorloth’s partner, Lena Selnes, later shared screenshots on Instagram. The posts showed many abusive messages sent to the Atletico Madrid forward. Some even told him to take his own life.
Solbakken strongly condemned the abuse.
“It is tragic,” he told reporters in Miami.
“That is the world we live in. I tell the boys to stay away from social media, especially on days like this.”
“There is nothing more to say about it other than it is completely devoid of sense on every possible level.”
After the match, Sorloth explained why he did not pass to Haaland.
“The only thing I wanted to do in that situation was to pass to Erling,” Sorloth said.
“But it felt like the pass wasn’t there, so I went to shoot.”
The 30 year old said England defender John Stones had blocked the passing lane, leaving him with little choice but to take the shot himself.
