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Bloomberg

There are no tributes to the conquering heroes at Bodo airport, no banners proclaiming their success hang in the streets outside. But visitors venturing this far north should not let Scandinavian understatement detract from Bodo Glimt’s achievements and the impact on their hometown.
The football team from the Norwegian Arctic fishing port have beaten giants Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City already in the Champions League this season. On Wednesday evening, they will host Sporting Lisbon, the club that produced global star Cristiano Ronaldo, at their 8,200-capacity stadium more than 3,200km (2,000 miles) north of the Portuguese capital.
The match in the last 16 of Europe’s elite competition is more than another lucrative chapter in Bodo’s David-against-Goliath tale. It is a chance to showcase a transformation underpinned by a fighter pilot turned mental-health coach who says that winning is not the point.
It goes back to 2019, when the club decided they needed a shift in culture, according to Orjan Berg, 57, a former Glimt and Norwegian national team player whose son, Patrick, is one of Bodo’s current stars. Key was the appointment of Bjorn Mannsverk, who adapted lessons from his time in Norway’s air force to the club’s team psychology.
Under Mannsverk’s direction, the emphasis was put on team performance and not results – so much so that even references to “winning” were banned and rigorously policed. In came yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques.

Berg joked that the club, their players and staff have all been “brainwashed”.
“Until then we were a decent club – we were talking about winning and the will to win,” he said in an interview at the Aspmyra Stadium in Bodo last week. The shift to focus on harmony and overall well-being “turned the world upside down”, he said.
Football history has other examples of less storied clubs progressing to this stage in the Champions League. Last year, French team Lille made it, as did RB Leipzig the year before. Both are much bigger than Bodo, though, and with the success also comes a disproportionate boost to the club’s finances.
The Champions League run has been worth some €40 million (US$46 million) to the club from Uefa, with sponsorship fees on top. That money is helping pay for a new 10,000-capacity stadium with under-pitch heating. To put it into perspective, though, Bodo would need to earn five times that just to afford Norway and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, based on Transfermarkt’s latest valuation.
The money generated is benefiting the whole town, but especially hotels, pubs and taxis. The free advertising generated for Bodo is “priceless”, said Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, the town’s mayor. “It’s a story that shows everything is possible,” he said. “That’s why it’s inspiring for everybody.”
On February 24, Bodo Glimt beat Inter Milan, last year’s Champions League runner-up, in front of a crowd of more than 70,000 in the San Siro stadium. In late January, they defeated Atletico in the Spanish capital. Eight days before that, they put three goals past Manchester City. And it was no flash in the pan. Last year, Bodo reached the semi-final of the Europa League, European club football’s second-tier competition.
“Everyone is simply happier,” said Glimt fan Ole Marius Rosten. “You can see it everywhere.”

That kind of underdog status runs in the team’s blood. In the club’s early days, travelling supporters had little but beer money and a toothbrush, so the latter became a fan symbol.
True to the philosophy of focusing on performance and not results, Orjan Berg is looking at the coming match against Sporting with ease. Win, lose or draw, there is also the second leg next week that will take place in a stadium in Lisbon that could fit virtually all of Bodo’s 53,000 inhabitants.
Asked if he thinks they can keep playing good football – remember, they do not discuss winning and losing – Berg confessed to having “a good feeling”.
“But then I always have a good feeling,” he said.


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Uefa Champions League: little Bodo Glimt take next step on giant-killing journey

Bodo Glimt’s players celebrate after beating Italy’s Inter Milan in Milan in the previous round of the Uefa Champions League. Photo: Xinhua

Bodo Glimt players training at their 8,200-capacity Aspmyra Stadium. Photo: EPA

Bodo Glimt’s Patrick Berg, son of ex-player Orjan Berg, gets past Inter Milan’s Francesco Esposito. Photo: NTB

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Sport

Football

Norwegian club have beaten Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City this season, but any talk in the team about winning is banned


Norwegian club have beaten Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City this season, but any talk in the team about winning is banned.


Uefa Europa League

Uefa

Cristiano Ronaldo

Erling Haaland

Uefa Champions League: little Bodo Glimt take next step on giant-killing journey

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Norwegian club have beaten Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City this season, but any talk in the team about winning is banned

Norwegian club have beaten Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City this season, but any talk in the team about winning is banned