– It’s something I’ve been waiting for. I’ve had moments when I’ve been disappointed and cursed at myself, the 22-year-old tells TV2 in the catacombs of Aviva Stadium late on Thursday night.
What happened 40 minutes later in Dublin was no accident:
Norway captain Martin Odegaard’s swing hit the front of the Napoli keeper, who sent Norway into the lead.
See the result below:
rose in the clouds
Captain and waiter Martin Odegaard lacks Østigård’s quality.
– sick in the air. Insanely resilient and fearless. He gets good speed on the ball when he hits it. He talked a lot about it before the match, that he owed me something after the last meeting. He knew he would fix it, and he did.
– Did you get a little annoyed with him?
– Yes… I told him, he owed me some bullseye, and he totally agreed, says Odegaard with a big smile.
Tribute: Martin Odegaard is full of enthusiasm for Leo Skiri Østigård’s head power. Photo: LORRAINEO’SULLIVAN
– I don’t know what he’s doing. It is not the longest, but it always comes first. He must have trained a lot. The Arsenal captain says he’s gone completely raw.
Confident answer
This isn’t the first time Østigård has dived headfirst into the scores.
At Anfield himself, everyone, including the Norwegian himself, believed that he had led Napoli to the top. The video assistant referee disallowed the goal after a few long minutes.
This came a week after he scored at home against Glasgow Rangers First appearance in the UEFA Champions League.
I gained some confidence after that goal against Rangers. He explains that it’s about the first person getting to the finish line, and then you get a sense of self-confidence from that.
TV 2 previously wrote about how a father and former coach coached the keeper from Åndalsnes.
– I don’t think there are many people better than me in my mind. I’ve always wanted to be the best in the world with my head, the 22-year-old explains.
– How do you work with it?
– I practice in training. It changes the way you attack the ball. In the past, I very much wanted to handle the ball. Then he often goes where you don’t want him to go, he says and continues:
It’s also a lot about self-confidence. This has a lot to say. All strikers know what it feels like to score their first goal after a dry goal.
Ståle Solbakken, national team manager, compares Åndal’s nose to Fabio Cannavaro in the air. It also highlights the defensive part.
– Today he does what I asked him to do. He’s much calmer with the ball. Against Serbia and Slovenia, he played football with one touch, because he was not comfortable. He has been here praising Solbakken.
Superior preference
– A professional player in the air, says TV2’s football expert Yaw Ihle Amankwah.
The fellow sealer also threw himself into the tribute:
Everyone knows what Leo can do in the air. In the past, he was a bit wild, and was too busy showing the whole world that he was really good in the air. Now it has calmed down. At the same time, Stefan Strandberg says, he is very flexible and timing.
– I don’t think many people in European football would be better than him at exactly that, he believes.
Stop: Stefan Strandberg congratulates Leo Skerry Østegaard on his first goal for the national team. Photo: Vegard Grott / BILDBYRÅN
Norway meets Finland next Sunday. You can see it on TV 2 Direkte and TV 2 Play.
Norway – Finland
tv 2 play
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