Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is in contention to feature in both of Norway’s matches this week, with his teammates not ruling out revenge on Bernardo Silva.
Portugal secured a 2-1 win over Norway on Sunday night, but post-match focus centred on Bernardo’s poorly timed tackle on Odegaard in the final minutes of the match. The Arsenal skipper picked up the ball on the edge of his own penalty box, passing it onto his teammate. After playing the ball, he was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge from the former Manchester City star.
The usually cool and calm Odegaard was furious with the challenge, appearing to mouth ‘f**k you’ at his opposite number. The Norway captain was visibly struggling in the final minutes of the game and blasted Bernardo again later that night.
Odegaard’s reaction to the tackle
‘This has no place on a football pitch,’ Odegaard told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 before limping toward the team bus more than an hour after the final whistle. ‘It’s a shame that people behave like that. He completely lost his head. He just kicks me down long after I’ve played the ball. I don’t understand what he’s doing.’
Norway are in Nations League action away to Wales on Thursday before facing Portugal again on Sunday night in what is expected to be a tense battle in Porto. Odegaard was not expected to train with the first-team today, but former Norway international Brede Hangeland, who now serves as team manager, provided a positive update on the Gunners skipper who he hopes can be involved in both games this week.
Positive update from team manager
‘He is up and running. He was much better than yesterday, so we will see,’ Hangeland told TV2. ‘In this world, two and a half days are an eternity, so it could get dramatically much better until then.
‘I think it will be a quiet session for him today. That is up to him to decide.’ Asked if there is hope Odegaard can be involved in Thursday and Sunday’s game, Hangeland replied: ‘Sure.’
Teammates on potential revenge
Odegaard’s teammates meanwhile have not forgotten what happened in Oslo on Sunday. Asked if the Norway players will be seeking to exact some revenge on Bernardo, Patrick Berg told VG: ‘We’ll have to wait and see. I can say that I’m looking forward to the match, at least. A player coming and kicking our captain could set things off a bit. It could.’
Torbjørn Heggem revealed Odegaard has been ‘struggling’ since the challenge but is hopeful the captain will be fit for the game against Wales this week before the reunion with Portugal at the weekend. The Bologna defender joked the topic of revenge is something he cannot discuss and said it is something the team “rarely” wants to resort to.
‘We can all see that Martin is struggling now. It’s not something we want on the field, that people get injured. I haven’t spoken to him now, but hopefully he’ll be fine and can play the next two games.’ Asked if the team will be thinking of revenge, he added: ‘At least it’s not something you can say outwardly.
‘I haven’t thought much about it. It was a bad tackle, and of course we want to support our captain, but a revenge tackle is rarely something you resort to.’
