An internal combustion engine is provided including a cylinder including a piston connected to a rotatable crankshaft, an exhaust guide being arranged to guide a gas flow from the cylinder, an adjustable flow restriction element arranged to restrict the flow through the exhaust guide, an exhaust valve arranged to control a communication between the cylinder and the exhaust guide, and an exhaust valve actuation assembly for actuating the exhaust valve so as to perform in each of a plurality of cycles of the cylinder an exhaust valve actuation sequence, wherein the exhaust valve actuation assembly is adapted to control the commencement of the exhaust valve actuation sequence to occur selectively at any crankshaft angle within a non-zero crankshaft angle interval.