Tribal Football

Arsenal captain Odegaard at centre of angry Norway exchange: You're completely hopeless!

Paul Vegas
Arsenal captain Odegaard at centre of angry Norway exchange: You're completely hopeless!
Arsenal captain Odegaard at centre of angry Norway exchange: You're completely hopeless!Action Plus
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was at the centre of an angry row between Norway coach Stale Solbakken and the local press.

At today's Nations League media conference, Solbakken was pushed about Odegaard's withdrawal from the squad by VG's Mats Arntzen.

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It all started with the question below. 

If Arsenal were to face City on Sunday and Norway were not to face Kazakhstan, do you think he would not have been more likely to have played that game?

Norwegian national team doctor Ola Sand tried to answer, stating: "I have no opinion on that. It will be hypothetical."

Arntzen continued:

If he's not fit, how can you have no opinion about it?

And then Solbakken entered the exchange.

"We just have to deal with the messages I get from the physios and Martin himself," he said, before Arntzen followed up with a new question.

But either he is injured or he is not injured?

"Don't be so damn aggressive. You take it as a personal defeat that VG has...," said the national coach, who was again met by a follow-up question. 

How can you think that there is no difference between the national team and Arsenal?

"That's not it," said Solbakken. 

After this, the press conference ended, but that did not stop the national coach from making a final comment.

"You must relax a little. You are completely hopeless. You have some agenda here. You have been exposed long ago."

Norway meets Slovenia on Thursday and Kazakhstan three days later.