By Philip O’Connor
HT Picture
-Bodo/Glimt could also be behind 3-1 on mixture towards Premier League aspect Tottenham Hotspur after the primary leg of their Europa League semi-final in London, however the Norwegians have some pedigree towards extra illustrious foes.
And a late aim by midfielder Ulrik Saltnes gave the membership from contained in the Arctic Circle a lifeline forward of the house leg.
“It was more of a relief that we were able to lift ourselves a little and get into the game,” Saltnes informed Reuters. “We are still huge underdogs, but at least now it will be a battle!”
Bodo/Glimt are used to battling in Europe and have taken some notable scalps this season.
Within the quarter-finals, they appeared lifeless and buried in additional time of the second leg towards Lazio in Rome, just for Andreas Helmersen to attain an unlikely equaliser and drive a penalty shootout, which they received.
It’s the newest in a sequence of never-say-die performances in Europe that stems from a membership ethos that favours course of over outcomes, permitting them to maintain cool even when beneath the cosh.
Saltnes has skilled all of the highs and lows of European soccer on this marketing campaign, scoring twice within the first leg at house to Lazio however then being taken off after 57 minutes in Rome as that two-goal cushion was erased, forcing additional time.
The 32-year-old puzzled aloud after the primary leg if two probabilities he spurned within the second half may come again to hang-out him, however as he sat and watched the penalty drama unfold, he stated he may barely keep in mind the misses.
‘NOTHING TO LOSE’
“No, not really – it was so emotional and exciting to watch that I couldn’t think about anything else but the game and supporting the lads,” he stated.
Happily his teammates, and specifically goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, got here to the rescue, successful the shootout within the cauldron of Rome’s Olympic stadium to place them one recreation away from a European ultimate – if they will flip the two-goal deficit towards Spurs round at house.
“I think they will play very similarly to the last game. We have absolutely nothing to lose, and we just have to attack as best we can,” Saltnes defined.
“We have to keep a cool head – it’s no use thinking we’re going to win the game in 10 minutes. A lot can happen, and we just have to focus on ourselves, even though we know it’s going to be an incredibly big challenge.”
Saltnes has spoken about how he thought-about quitting the sport earlier than Bodo started driving the crest of a wave that has seen them win 4 league titles since 2020.
A serious catalyst got here when efficiency coach Bjorn Mannsverk – a former Norwegian air drive fighter pilot with no soccer background – was introduced in, and along with coach Kjetil Knutsen, instilled a spotlight away from successful in the direction of merely acting at their finest in each second.
Come Thursday, the city of Bodo will once more troop right down to the Aspmyra stadium, a ten-minute stroll from the native airport, to welcome the group onto the sphere as fireworks are shot into the sky and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blasts from the audio system.
Journalists visiting the tiny floor, which holds simply over 8,000 spectators, will report back to the world from a press room behind one of many objectives that’s positioned above a grocery store and used as a classroom through the day, full with kids’s drawings hanging on the partitions.
With the ultimate set to happen in Bilbao on Might 21, Thursday’s second leg would be the final recreation of the present season at Aspmyra.
“Of course, making the final would be great, but I don’t think it would change much,” Saltnes said.
“The experiences you have along the way are much more important than where you end up, I think.”