Hurting Martin Odegaard aims to use the raw pain from his English Premier League heartbreak and turn it into Norway’s Euro 2024 gain.
The playmaker has had one of the seasons of his young career, but it still wasn’t enough as his Arsenal team fell short of Erling Haaland’s Treble-winning Manchester City side. So not only has he had to harbour that disappointment, salt has been rubbed into his wounds as he has also seen his teammate come into the Norwegian camp on cloud nine - after City’s Champions League sealed their dream campaign.
Now Odegaard plans to use that to fire him on when Norway take on Scotland on Saturday at home and then Cyprus next week. The Norwegians have taken just one point from their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign and are well aware this double-header could make or break their hopes of making next year’s finals in Germany. An emotional Odegaard confessed: “I’ve tried not to see so much of that stuff there, because it still stings.
“So I try not to think too much about it. Even though we delivered a very good season for a long time, I am left with a sour feeling.”
Norway’s first qualifying games saw them lose to Norway and then draw in Georgia. Odegaard had a great chance to win it but blew it in Batumi. That has left him with something else to stew on in recent days. The former Real Madrid player stated: “It was no fun. We should have won the Georgia game, and since I missed that chance as well, it wasn't so easy to sleep at the back.
“It hits me pretty hard, I have to admit. It's not so easy to sleep and stuff like that, but that's football - it's about learning and hopefully I can get better at it. I’m not a guy who takes off the most when things are going well. But when things go badly, I may be a little longer in that period than in the good ones.”
The Ullevaal Stadium is sold out for the Scotland game. It will see Odegaard go up against his Arsenal teammate Kieran Tierney. Odegaard knows the importance of these games not only for their Euro 2024 hopes back on track but to get the Norwegian public back on side.
The captain claimed: “I have a lot of faith in this team. So I hope we can use the two important matches now to also get the Norwegian public to believe in us, so that it is not just us who believe in ourselves.”
Odegaard has been a massive player for Arsenal, in terms of goals and assists. He netted 15 goals for the Gunners last season but that is in sharp contrast to the form he has shown for the national team. He has netted just twice Odegaard accepted that he needs to step up for Norway on that particular front.
The 24-year-old accepted: “The goal statistics are bad, there is nothing else to say about that really. There, I have something to work on, and I have a little way to go. Hopefully I can score a bit more here too.”
Odegaard hasn’t scored since he netted in a friendly against Slovakia last year but he is confident the goals will come. He said: “First of all, there are many matches, but it is not certain that I have played 90 minutes in all of them. I was also very young when I joined the national team, so it's a bit about that too.
“The way we play and my position also have something to say. I may have a slightly different position at Arsenal than I have had here, but I think I should have more goals anyway.
“I want to score more goals for the national team. You just have to crack the code and bet it will come loose here too. I don't change anything. There is the same focus in all matches.
“I always want to score and have assists, but maybe that makes me even more eager to get it out here as well. Whether it's me who scores or someone else doesn't have much to say.”
There is already talk of Arsenal wanting to extend Odegaard’s contract. It still has two years left to run. He admitted he is happy at the Emirates but any contract talks or discussions will need to wait until after the summer. Odegaard claimed “I have delivered at a higher level than I have ever done, I feel.
“I have not spoken to them, that is not my task. To be honest, I don't know how the situation is right now, he says. I have a few years left on the contract, I'm fine and I hope to be at the club for a long time to come.
“Well, it's not me who controls it. Now I'm focusing on the national team, so I may take it after the summer if they want to do something.”
