Football Norway fears that the national team captain will be out for a long time. The injury also comes at an inopportune time for Arsenal FC. The day after, the man responsible reports back.
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- Norway captain Martin Ödegaard has to leave the field injured in the match against Austria after a duel with Christoph Baumgartner and is in danger of being ruled out.
- Ödegaard's teammate Leo Östigard is annoyed after the game about the tackle by Austria's Baumgartner.
- Baumgartner apologizes the day after the game: "It was never my intention to injure this fantastic player."
Even Erling Haaland's late winning goal could not make Norway's worries about team captain Martin Ödegaard disappear. After the Arsenal midfield strategist was substituted due to injury, the Norwegians' anger was directed at Bundesliga professional Christoph Baumgartner.
According to Norwegian broadcaster NRK, central defender Leo Östigard said he would have liked to have had a duel with the Austrian to show him what it's like to get one back after the 2:1 defeat to Austria in the Nations League. What would have happened then? "I'm not going to say that here," said Östigard.
In the second half of the Nations League match, RB Leipzig professional Baumgartner had passed the ball a little too far after a throw-in and fouled Ödegaard in the ensuing duel - apparently unintentionally. The Norwegian buckled violently, fell to the ground with a pained face and held his ankle; he had to be substituted immediately afterwards with tears in his eyes.
Baumgartner apologized the day after. He wrote via Instagram Story: "It was never my intention to injure this fantastic player." He wished Ödegaard all the best and a speedy recovery, the Austrian wrote.
MRI in London
The severity of the injury initially remained unclear. Photos from the newspaper "Verdens Gang" showed Ödegaard limping on crutches onto a private plane in Oslo in the morning. On his return to London, an MRI is to be carried out, as the team doctors of the Norwegian national team and Arsenal agreed during the night, according to the newspaper "Dagbladet".
It is feared that the 25-year-old will be out for weeks. National coach Stale Solbakken was unable to say anything about the extent of the injury after the game, but denied the question of whether he was certain that Ödegaard would be back for the next international matches in October.
It is feared that the 25-year-old will be out for weeks. National coach Stale Solbakken was unable to say anything about the extent of the injury after the game, but denied the question of whether he was sure that Ödegaard would be back for the next international matches in October.
