OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway captain Martin Ødegaard was left furious by a late kick on his ankle by Portugal’s Bernardo Silva in stoppage time of a Nations League game Sunday.
The pair had years of rivalry in the Premier League and Silva, who joined Real Madrid in the offseason from Manchester City, left a reminder on the Arsenal captain that got just a yellow card in Portugal’s 2-1 win in Oslo.
Ødegaard was filmed repeatedly shouting an expletive in English at his longtime opponent, who he could meet again in Lisbon on Sunday in the return game of their Nations League group.
“This has no place on a football pitch,” Ødegaard told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 before limping toward the team bus more than an hour after the final whistle.
Ødegaard had passed the ball forward left-footed from deep in Norway's half before Silva challenged from behind. Silva raised his right foot too late to block the ball then aimed a kick at the back of Ødegaard's trailing left foot.
Asked by Norwegian reporters about the clash that upset Ødegaard, Silva first replied “What tackle?” in a clip posted by online media outlet Nettavisen.
“It’s football, my friend,” said the 32-year-old playmaker, who spent nine years at Manchester City and won six Premier League titles.
Arsenal and Ødegaard were runner-up to Man City in the last two of those titles, in 2023 and 2024. He finally led Arsenal last season to a first Premier League win in 22 years.
Man City and Arsenal are currently 1-2 in the standings early in a Premier League season that looks sure to be overshadowed by the league's long-running legal case against Silva’s former club.
Abu Dhabi-backed Man City was charged with breaking financial rules over nine years from 2009-18 mostly linked to sponsorships from the emirate, and refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
An independent panel of judges has reportedly found Man City guilt of a majority of the 115 charges faced. It is unclear if the team’s past titles are at risk of being stripped at a subsequent sanctions hearing.
Man City denies wrongdoing and on Saturday club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak insisted in a letter to fans “nothing has changed.”
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