*From Bloomberg News reporters Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth and Alan Crawford:*
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 shouldn’t let Scandinavian understatement detract from Bodo Glimt’s achievements, and the impact on its hometown.
The football team from the Norwegian Arctic fishing port has beaten giants Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City already in the Champions League this season. On Wednesday evening, it will host Sporting Lisbon, the club that produced global star Cristiano Ronaldo, at its 8,200-capacity stadium more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) 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’s a chance to showcase a transformation underpinned by a fighter pilot turned mental-health coach who says that winning isn’t the point.
It goes back to 2019 when the club decided it 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, its 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.
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*From Bloomberg News reporters Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth and Alan Crawford:*
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 shouldn’t let Scandinavian understatement detract from Bodo Glimt’s achievements, and the impact on its hometown.
The football team from the Norwegian Arctic fishing port has beaten giants Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City already in the Champions League this season. On Wednesday evening, it will host Sporting Lisbon, the club that produced global star Cristiano Ronaldo, at its 8,200-capacity stadium more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) 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’s a chance to showcase a transformation underpinned by a fighter pilot turned mental-health coach who says that winning isn’t the point.
It goes back to 2019 when the club decided it 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, its 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.