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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

'I didn't listen' - Leo Ostigard accepts Norway blame after Scotland collapse

Norway fall guy Leo Ostigard has accepted the blame for his country's spectacular collapse against Scotland and admitted he should have been subbed because he was suffering from cramp.

The Napoli defender was heavily criticised in his homeland after he gave the ball away which led to Lyndon Dykes equalising and looked suspect too for Kenny McLean's famous winner.

Norway boss Stale Solbakken was slaughtered for taking off Erling Haaland and was also criticised for keeping Ostigard on.

But the 23-year-old insisted he was the only player to blame after he was seen being consoled by Haaland after the game.

He said: "Of course. I wish I could do something about the equaliser, but I got cramps in both legs and couldn't move.

"I just have to apologise for that.

"My body told me to stop but I didn't listen.

"I never want to be the player who wants to be subbed. But of course, now I understand that something is not quite right and I am struggling, I should go off.

"It was a stupid decision by me to stay on.

"The Norwegian people deserve much more than this and I wish I could do something about it."

Meanwhile, Scotland manager Steve Clarke hailed the character and depth in his squad following their sensational late Euro 2024 qualifying comeback in Oslo.

With Spain not playing, Scotland extended their lead at the top of Group A and moved eight points ahead of third seeds Norway.

Clarke said: “I was pleased with the performance, we were disciplined and passed it quite well at times.

“Obviously, you have got to soak up a lot of pressure against a good Norwegian team. And we never stopped believing. We keep going to the end and got our rewards.

“It says a lot about the character, the spirit, the quality from the bench. One of the things I keep banging on about with this group of players, the quality we have got, they want to do well for their country.

“And when I turn to the bench and I know I need to make changes to freshen it up, I am putting top-quality players on the pitch.

“It was just about getting the timing right. After losing the goal, I felt it was better just to stay in the fight for a little bit to make sure the game didn’t run away from us.

“After that we had to chase the game, it was pretty logical – you are going to take off a defender and push John McGinn a little bit further forward.

“We brought Kenny to the game, Billy Gilmour to the game, brought Stuart Armstrong to the game, fresh legs to try and get forward and they were involved in most of the best things towards the end of the game.

“Even Dominic (Hyam) comes on at the end and sticks his head on a couple. Congratulations to Dominic, first cap, not a bad place to do it, not a bad score.”

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