Leo Ostigard says he’s extremely proud to be a trailblazer for Andalsnes in Norway after his first senior call-up to the national squad.
The 20-year-old was born and grew up in the fjord town in western Norway of around 2,000 people, and is the first person from Andalsnes to be called into the senior squad.
Ostigard has been named in the Norwegian senior setup for the upcoming European Championship play-off against Serbia on Thursday evening and the UEFA Nations League matches against Romania and Northern Ireland.
He said, “I am very proud. For someone like myself to come from a small place like Andalsnes is quite a big achievement.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to be involved with your country – when you are a child that is the biggest dream you have as a footballer.
“I have waited a while for the opportunity, but I feel I can be competitive in the squad and that my time has come.
Her er Lars Lagerbäcks tropp til de tre kommende kampene i oktober 🇳🇴
— Fotballandslaget (@nff_landslag) September 28, 2020
Gratulerer til Leo Skiri Østigård og Jens Petter Hauge med første uttak til A-herrer 💪#sterkeresammen pic.twitter.com/Q0mCo0FbQa
Ostigard is currently on loan with Coventry City and spoke more about his progression over the last five years at international level for his country.
“I’ve represented the country at every age group from under-16s to the under-21s but my dream was to get into the first team and now I have reached that.
“I have had some really good times for Norway so far, especially playing in the under-20 World Cup, and now I want to create some more with the senior side.
“Those five years since I made my under-16 debut have gone very fast. I feel like I’ve done the right things to get to this point and now I am looking forward.”
Ostigard is close to one member of the Norway squad in particular. He has known Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland since the striker joined him at Norwegian club Molde when he was 18.
“It will fantastic to see him again because I have missed him, he was really happy when I got called up.
“He’s one of my best friends so to share the national team environment with him will be amazing. I’ll probably come up against him directly in training too.
“I think Erling will be a key player for the team. I know Mathias Normann as well, because we played together at Brighton. I'm familiar a lot of the group and hopefully I can become an important member of the squad.”