Marcus Rashford is ‘incredible’: Real Madrid wonderkid Martin Odegaard blown away by his Man Utd counterpart Marcus Rashford
Norwegian sensation hails teenage hat-trick hotshot after England heroics
REAL MADRID wonderkid Martin Odegaard admitted he was blown away by the “incredible” Marcus Rashford.
Two of the globe’s hottest young properties came face-to-face at Colchester’s Community Stadium on Tuesday as England Under-21s thrashed Norway 6-1.
Odegaard and his team-mates were powerless to stop the Rashford phenomenon strengthening his booming reputation as the Manchester United ace fired a hat-trick in front of the watching Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce.
And the goalscoring exploits of the 18-year-old certainly left an impression on the highly-touted Norwegian’s first ever game on English soil.
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“He is an incredible player as we saw,” Odegaard exclusively told SunSport.
“And we have seen that in the Premier League too.
“So I think he is just an incredible player.”
And when quizzed whether he could imagine himself lining-up alongside Rashford in the future at Madrid, United or another of Europe’s super clubs, he just replied with a smile and said: “Maybe, maybe.”
Both men are touted to reach the very top of the game.
Although they won’t get chance to battle it out again in the Champions League this season for their club sides, Odegaard could be handed a chance to shine on European football’s biggest stage.
Last week he was selected alongside superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in Madrid’s Champions League squad.
And after becoming the youngest debutant in the history of the Blancos at 16 years and 157 days old last May, his next target is establishing himself in Zinedine Zidane’s side… Even though he insists there is no rush for him to do so.
“That is a good thing for me to be in that squad.
“Hopefully I can get some chances this year. I just have to continue to work hard and take my chances.
“Of course I want to play in the first-team - that is my goal. But I have a lot of time.
“I'm still only 17-years-old so I can take my time.”
In addition to his record at Madrid, he is also the youngest ever player to appear for Norway’s senior side.
He debuted against United Arab Emirates in August 2014 aged just 15 years and 253 days. Since then he has gone on to win a further eight caps.
The January following his international bow saw the Spanish giants Madrid come hunting for the prodigy after he had featured in 23 of Stromsgodset’s 30 league games back in his homeland.
They splashed out a reported £8million fee to bring the youngster to the Bernabeu.
Since then he has struggled to make an impact in the first-team set-up and has been linked with a move to England with Liverpool keen on him.
Tuesday night’s game gave him a first taste of playing on these shores and he was impressed by the atmosphere, even if the result naturally left him disappointed.
Odegaard added: “Yeah I think it is [My first game in England]. It was a good atmosphere and they have a good crowd here.
“We played really, really good in the first thirty minutes and we could have been maybe two up.
“It's maybe not bad luck, but we should have done better in the second half.
“The goalkeeper did a really good job - but we have to score those chances if we are to win games like this.”