Steely Norway proud of Azerbaijan showing

• Norway pleased with measured performance after 1-0 win in Azerbaijan
• Per Ciljan Skjelbred: "We wanted to stay tight, and defend deep"
• Per-Mathias Hogmø proud of error-free Norway performance
• Mahmud Gurbanov disappointed: "One corner changed everything"
• Next games: Azerbaijan v Malta, Croatia v Norway (28 March)

Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norway midfielder
We wanted to stay tight and defend deep, because we knew that sometimes Azerbaijan come forward in numbers and take risks. And we knew we would have our chances. Today that's what happened. We managed to get some counterattacks. We went 1-0 up but didn't play that well. Azerbaijan are a very skilful team, and that's why it was a very difficult game for us. Italy and Croatia are the best teams in our group, but maybe we can beat the other teams.

Per-Mathias Hogmø, Norway coach
It was the tough game we expected. We had several chances but could only score once. The best thing you can do is to win a game and to score goals so we are satisfied. We are very happy that we have achieved our objective tonight. We didn't make any mistakes, especially in defence. I am proud of my players. They played very well.

Mahmud Gurbanov, Azerbaijan coach
I have to be satisfied with the performance, but I cannot be happy with the result. For both sides, it was an important game. We wanted to win or take a point, but the Norwegians kept it tight in defence, and that is why we could not score. We had to use long balls because Norway's defence stuck tight to our forwards. Before the game, I wanted the players to play fast, with short passes. I didn't use my final substitution because we did not need to change anything. We knew how Norway would play, but one corner changed everything.