now 15.37 EDT 34 mins: Udogie wins the ball in Tottenham’s half, ignores a pass forward to Richarlison and turns back. There is audible grumbling. Share1m ago 15.35 EDT 32 mins: Richarlison runs into the area, opens up his body, and scuffs a feeble shot that rolls gently to Halkin. Share2m ago 15.34 EDT 30 mins: Another Spurs ball over the top of the Bodo defence, and Solanke does well to reach it, control it and play it back, but Udogie lashes his volley high, and almost certainly also wide. Share4m ago 15.32 EDT 28 mins: Jens Hauge goes down theatrically inside the Spurs penalty area. Some Bodo players want a penalty but Hauge, who is aware that nobody actually touched him, is not one of them and the referee isn’t remotely interested. Share7m ago 15.29 EDT 25 mins: Now Maddison takes a free-kick and again Spurs win the header. Again nothing comes of it, but they have been first to pretty much every ball into Bodo’s penalty area. Share10m ago 15.27 EDT 23 mins: Another Spurs corner is headed on – there certainly wasn’t any intent to this knock-on, it more bounces off a head – to Bissouma, who profoundly mishits a volley. Share12m ago 15.25 EDT 21 mins: Richarlison is played down the left by a fine pass, but he completely fluffs his attempt to cross to Johnson, and the ball rolls to Halkin. Share13m ago 15.24 EDT 20 mins: Bissouma wins the ball pretty cleanly, but Ulrik Saltnes goes down and the referee gives a free-kick. Share14m ago 15.23 EDT 18 mins: There’s an appealing romance to this game, between a team nobody expected to be remotely good enough to get here and, well, another one. But the downside of that is that neither team looks particularly good enough to be here. Share18m ago 15.19 EDT 15 mins: Spurs win another corner. Porro sends it in, Richarlison flicks it on, Bissouma profoundly mishits a volley. Share20m ago 15.17 EDT 13 mins: Spurs have possession in the Bodo half for a while, but the defence is well organised and they can’t find any gaps, so instead they eventually give the ball away. Share23m ago 15.13 EDT 10 mins: Spurs win a corner, from which Van de Ven sends a header looping into touch. Share25m ago 15.12 EDT 8 mins: Plus there was Bissouma’s contribution, using his strength to make sure Spurs kept possession after Johnson’s initial header before feeding it back to Porro, who crossed. Share26m ago 15.10 EDT 7 mins: Chance! Romero lobs the ball over the entire Bodo team and lands on the right boot of James Maddison, 15 yards out, but he lifts over the bar. Share27m ago 15.10 EDT 5 mins: There haven’t been many occasions this season when Postecoglou’s decision-making has been emphatically and rapidly proved correct, but the selection of Richarlison for this match is one of them. It was his cross from the left that first put the ball into the penalty area, and then his headed assist was just perfect. A lot of players would have attempted to find the net and just given Halkin an easy catch. Share30m ago 15.06 EDT 2 mins: Bodo/Glimt re-huddle after the goal, goalkeeper Nikita Halkin leading the chat there. Reset required. Share31m ago 15.05 EDT GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Bodo/Glimt Forty seconds on the clock, and Spurs lead! They cross from the left, but Johnson can’t control his header. It’s sent back in from the right, Richarlison heads it back across goal, and this time Johnson’s got an easy task! View image in fullscreen Tottenham Hotspur’s Brennan Johnson heads home to open the scoring. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters View image in fullscreen Here’s a view of Johnson’s header from up in the stands. Photograph: Alex Pantling/Uefa/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Johnson celebrates with teammate James Maddison in front of some ecstatic Spurs fans and nonchalant Bodo/Glimt fans. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Share Updated at 15.23 EDT33m ago 15.04 EDT 1 min: Peeeeeeep! The visitors get the ball rolling. Share34m ago 15.03 EDT Right, preambles almost done. But before kick-off, a period of reflection for Pope Francis, not perfectly observed. Share35m ago 15.01 EDT “If any Spurs fans are thinking of heading to north Norway to sample the atmosphere for the second leg (I assume tickets are long gone), I can confirm that the (12-hour) train journey north from Bergen is absolutely stunning, the highlight of an interrail trip to the arctic circle last year,” writes Stuart Jenkinson, as the referee orchestrates the pre-match coin toss. “Every other house/ apartment was sporting a Bodo/glimt flag, as was the local peak, but unfortunately no home games in the short time we were there.” Share37m ago 14.59 EDT The players have joined them, and they’re on their way out! One end of the ground is displaying the Spurs club motto by means of holding up black and white plastic sheeting. Flags wave everywhere. One corner is very, very yellow. View image in fullscreen Spurs fans get their flag game going. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Whilst the Bodo/Glimt fans get their scarf game going. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Share Updated at 15.06 EDT40m ago 14.56 EDT Four minutes to kick-off. The mascots are in the tunnel, waiting for the players to join them. Share49m ago 14.47 EDT Ange Postecoglou has a chat: I just think the balance of our midfield and what we’re facing up against. The beauty of Lucas, he was the buy who gave us good balance in there. Tonight Biss [Yves Bissouma] will give us what we need. I think we need to be aggressive tonight. Richie [Richarlison] has been working his way back to fitness. I think tonight his experience, his ability in and around the box, we want to put a lot of pressure on them, and he could help us quite a bit. We outwork every team, that’s going to be important tonight. After that it’s discipline and organisation to make sure our football gets us through. We know it’s going to be a tough game, we’ve got to make sure we play our football. Share54m ago 14.42 EDT “I dunno if anyone has mentioned this, but during a lovely train ride from Liverpool St this afternoon, in a carriage packed with jolly singing Bodø/Glimt fans, I asked one of them where their name comes from,” writes Tom Paternoster-Howe. “Apparently ‘glimt’ means ‘glint’ in English. Seems like a delightful name for a delightful club.” They were originally named simply Glimt, before adding Bodo to avoid confusion. According to the Cambridge Dictionary glimt can mean “glimpse”, as in the phrase “skimte så vidt”, “to catch a glimpse of something” or it can mean “sparkle”, as in the phrase “være sjarmerende og humoristisk”, to have a sparkle in one’s eye. They are to all intents and purposes called Flash. Share1h ago 14.22 EDT Here’s Nick Ames’ report from Bodø on the “big dream” coming true for the Norwegian side: No one is sure precisely when the “coffee table” tradition began, but consensus traces it back about 60 years. It would take a lot for one of the regulars not to show up. The time is almost 11am and cups are being laid out in the Aspmyra Stadion canteen for the Bodø/Glimt old boys’ daily catchup. In walks Ivar Bakke, who can count himself as the group’s elder statesman at 94. “One of the oldest people in Norway!” he laughs before sitting down. Tall tales are retold, memories sharpened in delighting over past and more recent glories; however far those stretch, everyone here knows what it has taken to bring their club to the barely fathomable territory of a Europa League semi-final. The raconteur in chief is Jacob Klette, a sharp figure in his late 70s who made almost 400 appearances for a team that broke boundaries. “The northern part of Norway has always had to fight for its rights,” Klette says. “I played for Lyn, the best team in Oslo, in the late 1960s. You would open the newspaper and see adverts: ‘We have an apartment for rent, but not for people from the north.’ You felt disgusted to see it.” Klette and many of his friends at the table would turn convention and outright prejudice on their head. Clubs from all the way up here, 75 miles inside the Arctic circle, were not allowed to play in the Norwegian cup until 1963. They were regarded as poor relations on and off the pitch. Much more here: ‘One big dream’: Bodø/Glimt’s modern miracle built on history and humility Read more Share1h ago 14.16 EDT They certainly seem to be a very cheerful bunch. Bonus points for the team wearing equally cheerful colours. Bodo/Glimt should be given a bonus goal for engendering scenes like this. View image in fullscreen Fans of Bodo/Glimt arrive for the fan march prior to the Europa League semi-final against Tottenham. Photograph: Alex Pantling/UEFA/Getty Images Share2h ago 14.06 EDT Lucas Bergvall has twisted an ankle and is out of the game. Richarlison and Dominic Solanke start a game together for the first time ever. Share2h ago 14.05 EDT The teams! Glenn Hoddle says he’s “excited” and thinks Spurs should “put the tie to bed” this evening. Have Spurs named the team to do it? Let’s find out! Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bentancur, Bissouma, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Richarlison. Subs: Austin, Whiteman, Danso, Tel, Gray, Kulusevski, Spence, Odobert, Sarr, Davies, Moore.Bodo/Glimt: Haikin, Sjovold, Gundersen, Nielsen, Bjorkan, Fet, Hauge, Saltnes, Maatta, Hogh, Blomberg. Subs: Lund, Brondbo, Auklend, Moe, Sorli, Bro Hansen, Kjaer, Bjortuft.Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain). Share
Click here to read article