Erling Haaland vs Martin Odegaard: Norway to grind to a halt in the grip of title-race fever
This evening, when Arsenal travel to the Etihad for what may well turn out to be the deciding game of this year’s Premier League campaign, there will not be many restaurants taking bookings in Bergen, nor shows performing to packed theatres in Oslo. Because Norway is going to grind to a halt. This is a country with more than just a passing interest in the outcome of this year’s title race. This is a country obsessed by it.
“It is no exaggeration to say City and Arsenal have been the biggest news in Norway all year,” says Davy Wathne, the renowned former Norwegian television anchor, his nation’s Des Lynam. “It is huge, bigger than Ukraine.”
In fact, he adds, this is more than news. It is personal. Because at the very centre of the title race are Norway’s two best players: City’s Erling Haaland and Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard.
“Having the main characters in the drama of the Premier League has never happened to us before,” says Wathne. “Sure, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was big, but he was peripheral. We have never had Norwegians with this status.”
And in Norway, that means everything. Because this is a country that has long been smitten by English football. Every weekend thousands of Norwegians fly over for games; on Saturday afternoons bars and pubs are rammed with locals watching live coverage of the Premier League.
“It started in 1969,” explains Wathne of the national fascination. “Norwegian TV did a deal with the English first division to broadcast live matches at 4pm Saturday, 3pm your time. NTV were then the only channel, it was the only thing on TV. On dark winter evenings you could watch Mike Pejic at Stoke or Frank Worthington at Birmingham. I remember early on the newspaper in Bergen had a picture of the Saturday traffic in downtown. No one was there. The entire city was at home watching.”
Nowhere else in the world was then televising English football live. And for 23 years this was the only football they saw; it was not possible to watch the Norwegian side play internationals live on the box in Oslo until the mid nineties. As a result, Norwegian eyes have long been fixed on the English game. There are, for instance, more than 40,000 members of the local branch of the Liverpool supporters club. And this season with Haaland racking up the goalscoring records and Odegaard excelling for Arsenal, the interest has risen exponentially.
“We have known about both players since they were kids, followed their progress across Europe,” says Jan Saltvedt, sports analyst for NRK, the state-owned Norwegian broadcast company. “But even when Haaland was scoring hundreds of goals in Germany, it was like: yeah but can he hack it in the one that matters, the Premier League? Now we have seen he can it is like he has reached the promised land.”
Though Wathne stresses the coverage is not equally spread between the two players.
“Haaland is the giant,” he says. “Every day the tabloids are full of stories of him, they follow his every step. Even if he doesn’t play you have on the front page a picture of him applauding when a teammate scores. Odegaard is a more reflective guy, he seems a really good guy, but he doesn’t steal as much attention. He is in Haaland’s shadow. Like everyone in Norway.”
And the Haaland effect is being noticed on the streets. While Liverpool, Manchester United and Leeds are the most followed clubs among the older generations, for the young Norwegian he is creating new affiliation.
“Norway is turning into a sky-blue country; everywhere you see kids in City shirts,” says Saltvedt. “I think the Haaland effect will shape things for the next decade. What you are witnessing in Norway is the start of the City world domination. It is exactly as the Abu Dhabi owners wanted.”
But beyond shirt sales, the pair’s prominence in England has had an intriguing knock-on to attitude to the Norwegian national side. Expectation and assumption have grown rapidly.
“We were hoping they would project their success, demanding it really,” says Saltveldt. “The problem is Haaland doesn’t have Kevin De Bruyne alongside him, Odegaard doesn’t have Bakayo Saka to feed. They don’t have the quality around them. So 20 June is make or break for the Euro qualification, when Scotland comes to Oslo. I am fearful.”
Before that, however, there is the small matter of the title decider. For many of those who follow other clubs, tribal loyalty will not diminish. Though Saltvedt reckons even the United, Liverpool and Leeds diehards will be tuning in, albeit to watch through their fingers.
“We can’t get used to this,” he says. “But the Premier League is becoming the greatest entertainment vehicle in the world. And Norwegians are proud of their part in it.”
