AKERSLOOT (VG) Goals in the last minutes were not enough to create a festive atmosphere at Bodø. It should perform significantly better, according to Camp Gilmett, before another tough away test in Europe.
– We weren’t happy. There was not even music in the locker room. That says a little when we beat Alkmaar. It wasn’t a bad mood, says Ola Solbakken, but we know how much better we could have been.
VG and captain Ulrik Saltnes meet outside their hotel in remote Akersloot, just a short drive from Alkmaar.
Smells a little “mellow out”. Regardless, there’s not much that is the same, Solbakken smiles.
The freshly fertilized fields along the highway give a peasant feel that is also not reminiscent of the great Olympico Stadium or Celtic Park, where Bodo/Glimt had major football breakthroughs earlier in the tournament.
The Avas stadium in Alkmaar only hosts 19,500 spectators, but it can be a difficult task as the previous confrontations with Roma and Celtic.
– It’s hard to compare. It is amazing that there is an incredible amount of psychology in European football. You have the best teams in the world that seem to be winning anyway, but then you have a little “group” at the bottom where things look a little more like “Who dares to be the best today?” , says Ulrik Saltnes, and continues:
– AZ did well on Aspmyra, but the balance of power is difficult to assess. It’s certainly a good team, and by most objective criteria they’d probably be the favourites, says Saltnis in the rush of winds and low-hanging planes heading toward the big Schiphol airport.
Despite the fact that he won the match off the chalk mark, Ola Solbakken was clear that Bodø/Glimt did not show his best team in the encounter at home in Bodø.
– It’s good that we struggle to do that. Everything is in place for that to happen. Solbakken says the way they play suits us well if we’re a little bit sharper, and she continues:
– We have nothing to defend. We must attack and be Bodø / Glimt. I know we can be a lot better than last time, but of course it will be a difficult task when we are an off-season team and meet the biggest team in the Netherlands.
What frustrated you the most last time?
– These are totally crazy rooms. If we play pressing first, this is going to be a big room, it’s almost like a counterattack. If we get better at it, there will be a lot of room and then we have to punish them.
Also at the press conference earlier in the day, it was clear that Bodo/Glimt had more to go with.
– It is, first of all, not a battle of fate, but an incredibly exciting one. We will do better than the previous game, and this is our entry into the match. “We were very happy with the defensive performance against Arizona, but we weren’t happy with the attack,” said Glimt’s coach, Kjetel Knutsen.
It says a lot about the group that we didn’t feel completely satisfied after the previous match. Defender Brice Wimpangomo said: “We are looking for a better performance.
And while Norwegian football fans ask themselves whether a Norwegian team can win a major European championship, Ulrik Saltnis’ answer is:
– It is impossible to answer. This is not the goal either. When we finished second in the group, I was somewhat happy, because after that we had two more matches. I just want to participate and develop myself, develop the team and try to give my best. Captain Glimt says winning is not a goal at all.
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