Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard at centre of Norway row after Bernardo Silva tackle

Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard has found himself at the centre of a debate in Norway following his angry reaction to a late challenge from Bernardo Silva.

The incident occurred during Norway’s match against Portugal on Sunday. After being caught by Silva, Ødegaard immediately got back to his feet and confronted the former Manchester City midfielder.

Former Liverpool captain Steve Nicol has since criticised the Arsenal star’s response, but his comments have prompted a strong reaction in Norway.

Speaking during an ESPN broadcast, Nicol suggested Portugal should have been more physical with Ødegaard after struggling to contain Norway.

“Norway made a mockery of Portugal for large parts of this game, especially in the final third,” Nicol said.

“And to be quite honest, it took too long before somebody did something like that to him.”

Nicol suggested Silva’s late challenge could serve as a warning for the next meeting between the teams before mocking Ødegaard’s reaction.

“‘Please don’t kick me! It’s not fair!’” Nicol said. “It sounds like a guy who wants loads of space and time on the ball.”

Those remarks did not go down well with former Norway international Bernt Hulsker.

“What a dinosaur. What a statement,” Hulsker said.

“Maybe that’s how we did things a bit in my time, but he’s even older. That’s not how it is anymore, Steve Nicol. We’re done with that stuff.”

Hulsker also defended Ødegaard for confronting Silva, saying he would expect nothing less from the Norway captain.

Silva offered a much shorter assessment when asked about the challenge afterwards.

“It’s football, my friend,” he said.

For Arsenal, the bigger issue is Ødegaard’s condition following the Portugal match.

The midfielder has not trained normally with Norway since the game.

He initially missed Tuesday’s session at Ullevaal, although photographs later showed him on the pitch after the opening 15 minutes of training.

There was still no definitive update after Norway arrived in Cardiff on Wednesday ahead of their match against Wales.

Hulsker nevertheless expects the Arsenal captain to be available.

“I think he’ll play,” he said.

Arsenal will now be hoping that assessment proves correct and, more importantly, that Ødegaard returns from international duty without an injury problem.

Ødegaard’s availability against Wales will provide the clearest indication yet of whether Arsenal have anything significant to worry about.

If he plays without problems, attention should quickly shift away from the fitness concern. If he misses the match or remains limited in training, Arsenal will want a clearer assessment before he returns to club duty.

For Mikel Arteta, the debate surrounding Ødegaard’s confrontation with Silva is secondary. The priority will be getting his captain back from international duty fully fit and ready for Arsenal’s next run of fixtures.