Although Ramos is only 184cm tall, his aerial ability is among the best in world football.
A mere no name Joshua King was no match for Ramos.
Ramos knocked the Norwegian striker aside in mid-air and cleared the ball with a header!
The second ball was controlled by Spain's midfield maestro, Busquets.
As the master of transitioning between attack and defense, when Busquets received the ball, it meant Spain's counterattack was about to begin!
Thump!!
After stopping the ball, Busquets immediately turned with it and delivered a through pass.
In an instant, the ball landed at the feet of Asensio on the right flank!
Although Norway's defenders were in position at that moment, Asensio used his exquisite dribbling skills, repeatedly evading challenges with his left foot.
Under the pressure of two Norwegian players, Asensio successfully carved out a path.
Three seconds later, Asensio forcefully charged into Norway's penalty area from the right flank.
In the stands of the Mestalla Stadium, Spanish fans had already risen to their feet, waving their fists, ready to celebrate a goal!
"Quick..."
"Cover!!"
On the sidelines, Norway's head coach Lars Lagerbäck was extremely agitated, shouting desperately at his defenders.
Although center-back Nordtveit also appeared in front of Asensio in time, unfortunately, Asensio halted his forward run and delivered a low cross.
The ball slipped right past Nordtveit, heading straight toward the goal!!
"MORATAAAA!!"
"Shoot..."
"No!! It should be a deflection!"
"Morata used his body to deflect the ball into Norway's goal!"
"One to zero!! The home side has scored!"
At the goalmouth, Spain's striker Morata timed his run perfectly.
He didn't even make a shooting motion, instead using his body to knock the ball into the net.
After scoring, Morata wore a look of bewilderment as he flashed an awkward smile.
On the Norwegian bench, Lars Lagerbäck could only shake his head helplessly at the outcome.
He was disappointed.
Lars Lagerbäck's original plan was for the team to focus on defense in the first half, aiming not to concede and then launch an all-out assault on Spain's goal after halftime.
Unexpectedly, just 13 minutes into the match, Norway's goal had already been breached by Spain.
After the restart, Norway regained possession.
However, Norway's attack remained as dull as before.
For most of the time, they resorted to lofted crosses into the box, unable to pose any real threat to Spain's goal.
Before long, the home side Spain quickly regained control of the ball.
In the 23rd minute, Busquets and Parejo combined to dispossess a Norwegian player.
Busquets cleverly passed the ball to the unmarked Ceballos. This 23-year-old midfielder currently plays for the Spanish giants Real Madrid.
He is a substitute player for the team, and this season, he has scored three goals.
When Ceballos received the ball and saw no Norwegian players pressuring him, he immediately decided to drive forward with the ball!! Ceballos possesses considerable dribbling ability.
Early in his career, he was even dubbed by Spanish media as the next Iniesta.
Of course, judging by Ceballos's development so far, he still has a long way to go to reach Iniesta's level!
Ceballos quickly advanced with the ball into Norway's half.
Soon after, Norway's defensive midfielders Selnaes and Henriksen closed in on Ceballos.
After a moment's thought, Ceballos opted not to attempt a risky dribble and instead played a through ball.
Thump!
Ceballos's through ball hugged the ground as it spun toward Norway's penalty area.
Both Norwegian defensive midfielders, Selnaes and Henriksen, were left grasping at air.
They could only watch helplessly as the ball moved toward their own penalty area.
To be fair, Ceballos's through pass was incredibly sharp, accurate and fast.
The ball successfully slipped through the gap between Norway's center-backs Ajer and Nordtveit.
It landed perfectly at Morata's feet!
At this moment, Morata had a clear shooting opportunity.
"Its Morata again!!"
"Shoots!!"
"It's in!!"
However, just as Martin Tyler finished speaking, the assistant referee raised his flag!
Offside!!
The referee immediately blew his whistle, signaling that the goal was disallowed.
"No goal! At the moment Ceballos made the pass, Morata was already in an offside position, His left foot was closer to the goal than Norway's center-back Ajer!"
On the Sky Sports live feed, fans breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the referee's offside call.
"Phew!! Thankfully Morata was offside! Otherwise, Norway would be in real trouble! Being down 1-0 and 2-0 are completely different scenarios!!"
"As expected of the 'Offside King'! Morata did a great job!!"
"Hahaha! I knew it, Morata was bound to be offside! He truly didn't let me down!"
"The most offside-prone striker in Spanish history! Alvaro Morata!"
"Morata's offside count can be compared to the legendary Italian striker Inzaghi. Of course, when it comes to goals scored, Inzaghi outshines Morata!"
...
After returning to the match, all Norwegian players immediately retreated to their own half to defend.
Lars Lagerbäck clearly recognized Spain's terrifying attacking prowess.
He simply instructed his players to set up a defensive bunker.
"Everyone defend!"
"All of Norway's attacking players have withdrawn to their own half! It seems Lars Lagerbäck intends to use a defensive bunker to stop Spain's attacks."
Gary Neville remarked, "It looks like this match is about to become an attacking drill for Spain. There are just over twenty minutes left in the first half. If Norway can avoid conceding a goal during this final stretch, they might still have hope in this match."
In the 30th minute, Sergio Busquets received the ball and immediately passed it to Marco Asensio on the right flank.
This was a connection between a Barcelona and a Real Madrid player.
As a left-footed player, when Asensio received the ball on the right flank, his attacking choice was often to cut inside.
At that moment, several Norwegian defenders had already closed in.
Full-back Haitam Aleesami and midfielder Mohamed Elyounoussi, the two players immediately closed in on Asensio from both sides.
Nevertheless, Asensio managed to break through using his excellent dribbling skills and speed advantage.
A touch with his right foot, then a quick cut inside with his left, followed by an immediate burst forward.
As soon as Asensio created a sliver of space, he immediately took a shot!
Norwegian goalkeeper Rune Almenning Jarstein delivered a world-class save in this defensive moment.
He dived sideways and punched Asensio's shot out of the penalty area with one fist.
However, the ball was still controlled by Spanish midfielder Dani Parejo.
Spain retained possession.
Two minutes later, the ball found its way to Jordi Alba on the left flank.
Alba is currently Barcelona's starting left-back, known for his excellent passing skills and stamina.
The latter decisively delivered a cutback pass near the byline!
Around the penalty spot, Álvaro Morata received the ball.
He opted for a first-time volley, but Morata's being Morata and the ball flew into the stands!
"It's Morata again!!"
"He missed his second clear-cut chance of the match!"
"What a shame!"
Five minutes later, Dani Ceballos delivered another incisive pass.
Inside the penalty area, it was Morata again who received the ball.
But before Morata could take his shot, the assistant referee raised the flag, signaling for an offside.
On the sidelines, Spain's interim head coach, Robert Moreno, kept sighing in frustration.
If Spain weren't already leading in the match, given Morata's current performance, Robert Moreno would have surely substituted him off much earlier.
In the blink of an eye, the first half of Spain vs. Norway had entered its final ten minutes.
As the leading side, Spain's players didn't continue to press aggressively against Norway's goal.
Instead, they deliberately began to control the tempo of the match.
Several midfielders kept passing the ball among themselves, using this method to run down the clock.
Seeing that Spain wasn't actively attacking, the Norwegian players didn't rush to press forward either.
After all, a score of 0-1 was still acceptable for Norway.
Ten minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the first half.
Spain temporarily led Norway 1-0 thanks to Morata's goal.
Both teams entered halftime.
...
On the Sky Sports website, the halftime news for Spain vs. Norway was already released on time.
"Halftime! Spain 1-0 Norway! Morata Scores! Theodore Bjorn Remains on the Bench!"
"Dominating Possession! Spain's First-Half Possession Rate Reaches 80%! Norway Has No Chances!"
"Morata Wastes Opportunities Repeatedly! Spain Leads Norway by One Goal at Halftime!"
...
In the Twitter comments section, a large number of fans were not optimistic about Norway's prospects.
"Judging solely by the first half, Norway had no ability to fight back at all!"
"If Morata hadn't been offside so many times, Spain might have already been leading 3-0 against Norway!"
"Sigh! Norway's offense in the first half was really poor—nothing but long passes..."
"Get Theodore Bjorn on the field quickly!!"
"That's right!! If Norway wants to win, they still need to rely on Theodore's performance!"
In Norway, Xia Dongguo and Marianne Bjorn were also watching in front of the television, their expressions was quite tense.
"Dongguo! Do you think Theo will get to play in the second half?"
Xia Dongguo confidently patted his chest and said, "Don't worry! Our Theo is a key player! The coach will definitely put him on the field!"
"As long as our Theo plays, Norway is sure to win!"
...
Fifteen minutes later, the second half of Norway vs. Spain officially began!
Before the match resumed, Norway made two substitutions.
Theodore Bjorn replaced Johnsen, and Ødegaard replaced Dæhli!
"Oh!"
"Theodore Bjorn takes the field wearing the number 16 jersey!!"
"The fans have been eagerly waiting for Theodore to appear!!"
"Hopefully, tonight Theodore can lead Norway to a comeback!"
"Besides Theodore, Ødegaard is also on the field!"
"In the last friendly match, Norway defeated Denmark thanks to the outstanding performances of Ødegaard and Theodore Bjorn!"
...
After the second half began, Norway kicked off first!
Ødegaard received the ball in midfield and suddenly decided to dribble forward!
He immediately attracted the attention of multiple players.
Busquets and Parejo's defense was quite rough as they immediately applied physical pressure.
Seeing this, Ødegaard quickly chose to pass the ball.
The ball landed at Theodore's feet.
At the same time, Norwegian forwards Joshua King and Elyounoussi had already charged into the penalty area.
Theodore didn't hesitate as he passed immediately.
This was Theodore's signature long pass—the ball curved through the air and landed precisely on the head of forward Joshua King.
At that moment, Ramos also moved in to interfere.
Although Theodore's long pass was already exceptionally precise, Ramos' defensive prowess was simply too good.
In the aerial duel, he overpowered Joshua King!
The latter simply couldn't muster any strength.
In the end, Joshua King's header was successfully caught by Spain's goalkeeper, De Gea.