Norway’s national football coach Per Mathias Høgmo has decided not to let the country’s sensational new 15-year-old star Martin Ødegaard play in two upcoming national matches after all. Høgmo has instead chosen other players with more experience.
Ødegaard, who plays for Strømsgodset in his hometown of Drammen, became the youngest player ever on a national squad when he was tapped to take part in an exhibition match against the United Arab Emirates in Stavanger last week. He did well and Høgmo let him play for the full 90 minutes.
Even though the match ended with no scoring by either side, Høgmo said he was impressed by Ødegaard’s performance. Not impressed enough, though, to include him on the teams announced Sunday night for an upcoming match against England at Wembley Stadium in London on Wednesday or for the first qualifying match for the European Championships on September 9.
Høgmo instead drew heavily from the Norwegian teams Molde and Odd, after noting that the “wonder boy” Ødegaard should first play well on the national U21 team instead. He’s been chosen to play there in an upcoming match against Portugal.
newsinenglish.no staff