Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard played 45 minutes for Norway as they narrowly beat Finland in an international friendly.
The playmaker impressed for his national team, leading the Scandinavians to a narrow 1-0 victory in Oslo, courtesy of a penalty from Erling Haaland.
The Manchester City striker expertly converted his spot-kick after Andreas Schjelderup was brought down by Topi Keskinen inside the Finland box.
A good warm-up for Norway’s important World Cup qualifier against Moldova on Tuesday, Stale Solbakken’s side currently sit top of their qualifying group, having won all four of their matches.
Norway’s media praise Martin Odegaard against Finland
Odegaard sustained a shoulder injury for Arsenal against Leeds a couple of weeks ago, and was only fit enough to play 20 minutes off the bench at Anfield last Sunday.
There was a lot of talk about how fit and ready he’d be to feature for Norway, and thus, it was something of a shock when he was named in Solbakken’s starting eleven against Finland.
However, it appears the Gunners’ star was carefully managed, only playing 45 minutes against the Finns.
Deployed in a midfield trio alongside Sander Berge and Felix Horn Myhre, Odegaard produced an impressive first-half showing.
However, what will delight Mikel Arteta more is the fact that the 26-year-old appeared to be careful not to go into duels too aggressively, to avoid aggravating his shoulder issue.
Norwegian publication NRK wrote: “He was probably careful not to get into unnecessary duels, and withdrew on at least one occasion; he took no chances that his shoulder would get worse.”
Meanwhile, Dagbladet were impressed with Odegaard’s performance, given his fitness issue, awarding him a seven out of ten for his display.
“What the hell?” they wrote.
“There was a lot of talk about the shoulder beforehand. But it didn’t affect him in any way. He was very involved in the game and made excellent passes. Norway’s best when he was on the field.”
Meanwhile, Nettavisen Sport wrote: “In from the start despite a sore shoulder, and was allowed to have a lot of ball against a very low-lying Finland team. Had a couple of good shooting opportunities without the aim being set, and it was mostly a relatively comfortable half for the Norwegian national team captain who occasionally showed what he has.”
Martin Odegaard’s statistics vs Finland
Odegaard struggled at times last season for Arsenal, failing to exert real influence in the final third.
Thus, Arteta will be ecstatic to hear that his skipper was trying to force the issue and be creative for his national team on Thursday night.
| Martin Odegaard’s Statistics vs Finland | |
| Minutes Played | 45 |
| Shots | 1 |
| Touches | 56 |
| Accurate Passes | 42/47 (89%) |
| Accurate Long Balls | 3/3 (100%) |
| Passes into the Final Third | 9 |
| Recoveries | 3 |
As shown by the data above, Odegaard was heavily involved against Finland, managing a staggering 56 touches in just 45 minutes.
The beating heart of Norway’s attack, everything ran through him as he progressed the ball excellently and looked to get it into dangerous areas.
Arteta will hope that he can build on this for the Gunners, while also hoping that he’s careful again when he plays Moldova next week.
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