By Philip O'Connor
VANCOUVER, July 1 (Reuters) - Norway coach Stale Solbakken paid tribute to Brazil's Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Sunday's World Cup last-16 clash between the two sides, saying a locker-room video of him calling out the Italian tactician was a joke that was taken out of context.
The video, published by the Norwegian football federation, featured Solbakken's stirring speech to his players after their 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast, which ended with the words: "... and wait, Carlo Ancelotti,
we are coming for you!".
"It's as far from provoking as possible - he's maybe the greatest coach in the history of European football together with Guardiola, Mourinho and one or two more from a historic perspective," Solbakken told reporters on Wednesday.
"I have the greatest respect for him. I met him a few times with FC Copenhagen when we played Chelsea and Real Madrid in the Champions League. He's a great guy, great sense of humour, and we have the greatest respect for him and Brazil also as a country. So I think that they can see the funny side of it, it was not a very deep analysis."
Solbakken was part of the Norway squad that beat Brazil in the World Cup group stage in 1998, but he said that that was too long ago to have a bearing on Sunday's showdown.
"I think that Brazil are finding their feet, gradually getting better and better and they have strong players in all positions. We're looking forward to the challenge," he said.
"Brazil are favourites, of course, and are also a great candidate to win the whole tournament. But now it's in our destiny that we're going to meet them, and then we have to play up to our very best."
Fuelled by Erling Haaland's goals, Solbakken's side have won plaudits for getting out of their group and securing Norway's first win in a World Cup knockout game by beating Ivory Coast, and they will prove to be a tough test for Ancelotti's men.
"Brazil are favourites, of course they are, but we are hopeful that we will give them a match, and we are not playing the game for fun - we are playing to win the game and to go into the quarter-finals," Solbakken said.
"We have great respect for what the coach there has done and what the team has done so far, but on Sunday, everything can happen in the game."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor in Vancouver;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
