Arsenal midfield Martin Odegaard didn’t really impress the Norwegian media as he suffered a 1-0 defeat to Spain.
Martin Odegaard ‘disappeared completely’ as the Arsenal captain couldn’t drag Norway to a big win on Sunday night.
To maintain their chances of qualifying for the Euro 2024 directly, Norway merely needed to defeat Spain in Oslo.
But Gavi scored the game’s lone goal to give Spain a 1-0 victory and put Norway five points out of qualifying with just one match remaining.
Norway still has a chance to qualify through the UEFA Nations League, but those chances are currently in ruins.
Martin Odegaard criticised after Norway defeat
Norway find themselves in a weird spot.
They have two superstar players in Odegaard and Erling Haaland but are still trying to form a competitive team around them.
That’s a tricky task at the moment but Norway needed a big performance from Odegaard on Sunday and really didn’t get it.
Odegaard managed just one shot and no key passes against Spain, touching the ball only 45 times; three of Norway’s back four were on the ball more than Odegaard.
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The Norwegian media weren’t impressed with Nettavisen rating him at just four out of 10.
They suggested that Odegaard was ‘clearly Norway’s best player’ in the early stages and ‘seemed violently pumped up from the start’.
However, £30m playmaker Odegaard ‘disappeared completely’ and couldn’t impose himself once Spain took control of the midfield battle.
Newspaper Verdens Gang went with a five out of 10 rating, noting that Odegaard was ‘not as dominant’ with the ball as hoped.
They added that Odegaard did drag the team forward but it just wasn’t nearly enough for Norway to claim a victory.
Arsenal will hope Odegaard returns strongly
With a decisive 1-0 home victory against Manchester City, Arsenal demonstrated their claim to the Premier League title as we enter the international break.
The Arsenal celebrations didn’t linger as long as they would have wanted because the Gunners stars left right away with their countries.
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Odegaard’s hopes of competing in Euro 2024 have been dashed for the time being, and he needs to rest up before returning to London.
Odegaard’s performance against Spain was unsuccessful, but he will play in a crucial matchup the following weekend when Arsenal travels to face Chelsea.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping that Odegaard does not have an international hangover because Arsenal will need him to perform at Stamford Bridge this coming weekend.