Norway defeat Bulgaria; teen becomes youngest player in European qualifier

Norway defeat Bulgaria; teen becomes youngest player in European qualifierNorway ran out 2-1 winners against Bulgaria in their Euro 2016 Group H qualifier in Oslo on Monday thanks to goals from Tarik Elyounoussi and Havard Nielsen.

However, it was teenager Martin Odegaard who stole the headlines after becoming the youngest ever player to star in a European Championship qualifier. At 15 years and 300 days old, the Stromsgodset midfielder was brought on in the 64th minute with the scores tied at 1-1.

Norway went in front after 13 minutes through Elyounoussi before the visitors equalised just before half-time with a Nikolay Bodurov header. But Norway grabbed the victory in the 72nd minute when Nielsen scored after good work from Odegaard.

It was Odegaard’s second appearance for his country after playing the full 90 minutes of his debut in the 0-0 friendly against United Arab Emirates in August. At the time he broke his national side’s 104-year record set by Tormad Kjellsen, who made his debut at the age of 15 years and 351 days against Sweden in 1910.

Many of Europe’s leading teams, including Barcelona, Manchester United and Manchester City, have all travelled to Norway to watch the youngster this season.

Norway now sit in third place in Group H, three points behind Croatia and Italy.