Sorry, this entry is only available in Norwegian.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Norwegian.

The day befor the day it is important to get a good breakfast, and it is important to be whith good company to get the spirit up and be relaxed and in good mood

This is Guttorm Dilling, our fixer in need. He is in charge of preparing everything for the national team. He is a top man who makes sure everything is in order

This is Geir Ellefsen. He is chief of security and master of the universe, and he makes sure the hotell is free of terrorists and that the icelandic volcanos keeps still during our visit.

Per Svendsen, the man whith the equipment.. easy now ladys, its football equipment! He keeps control over all our equipment during our trips.

Thor Einar the doc. One of the best doctors in the game. Here he is controling drugtests. The difference between us and Sweden is that we’re not allowed any drugs and the sweds are not allowed sweets.

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Semb is looking at fact about Iceland, important preperations before a game

Me, John Arne Riise and head of press Jon Mørland

Team meeting before training

We’re analyzing Iceland

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Sorry, this entry is only available in Norwegian.

Today I invited myself to dinner to some friends of mine. They come from the same part of Norway as me and i know that they have some wild salmons that they have fished themself. And wild salmon is so much better than farmed salmon. So dinner today was an easy choice, and it is so easy to make.

The first thing I do is to remove all the fish-scales

Then I remove all the bones with a pincer

Then I put some mixed seasoning on the fish, which by the way is home made and perfect for fish. It is made of dill, chervil, parsley, fennel and aniseed

Then I put it in the oven on 180 degree celsius for ca 10 minutes depending on the size of the fish. If it is in the oven too long it will dry out.

When the salmon is in the oven I bake the vegetables. You can use whatever you like, I used paprika, red onion, broccoli, spring onion and baked it with olive oil and a little bit of soy sauce

Serv with rice and sour cream, bon apetite

Morten Gamst Pedersen

I talked to Morten today and he is really ready to play Arsenal today. The whole team is fired up and ready for battle. Arsenal is a feinsmecker team who like to keep the ball in the team, but Blackburn is a hard working team and going to challenge Arsenal on everything this game. Morten is playing in the middle, with El Hadji Diouf on the left and Mame Diouf on the right.

Half time:
It has been a good first half with two teams really trying to play football. Even though I believe some in the Arsenal camp will claim rugby from Blackburn, but Blackburn is playing good. Arsenal had the first chance after 3 minutes but got saved on the line by Grella, after that Blackburn took over and had some really good chances. But after 19 minutes Arsenal scored. Theo Walcott got through and scored. The next five minutes Arsenal played the ball in their team. But the Dioufs set the record straight after 26 minutes when El Hadji outplayed Arsenals right back and set it up beautiful for Mame to tap in the equaliser. Samba has been outstanding, El Hadji has been good but is playing solo from time to time. Jones, Mame Diouf and Gamst has been really good. Blackburn is agressive and giving Arsenal nothing. They play long balls, on the ground and with set pieces better than Arsenal, and they are stronger in the tackles. But Arsenal is good when they get the opportunity and we are all set for an exciting second half.

Arsenal have come out with a whole different attitude in the second half, they are way more aggressive and have given the Rovers a better fight. Arshavin scored after 51 minutes and took over the play after that. Blackburn is struggling to get back in the game. The last 25 minutes Arsenal stopped attacking except from turnovers and counter attacks. The last 10 minutes blackburn started chasing an equaliser and had some opportunities but couldn’t score. At some set pieces situations the Arsenal players did what Wenger hates, they started holding down Rovers players. At one occation a clear penalty to Chrissy Samba when Chamack climed over him and held him down. Based on the second halv where Arsenal controlled the game it was a deserved win even though heroic effort from Big Sams blue/white army

Q&A:
S: You played well in the first half, and could have been a goal up. But in the second halv Arsenal was way better. Did they deserve the win?
M: I think we deserved better, but we let in those easy goals.. we fail in marking espesially the second goal.. Arsenal was good in the second half though
S: I thought Wenger didn’t like rugby and wanted better protection from the ref. but in the second half they was all over Chrissy Samba. Was it a penalty?
M: Clear penalty.. I hate those London rugby players.. This is FOOTBALL, start playing it! No I’m joking, this is Premier League, if you can’t handle it go to France and play there. It was a clear penalty but it is the refs desicion.. we don’t complain
S: I’m so dissapointed right now, bet you are the same. Let’s quit this Q&A today
M: I totally agree, shiit!
M: Was Marin far away from my cross in the end by the way?
S: Noo, just missed his head.. but the cross after, nobody in the box??
M: Hrmphh….

Stig

My shirt and Ljungbergs shirt from a game a few years ago

Now we’re just in the hotell relaxing and charging the batteries for tomorrws game against Arsenal. We have had a good start to the season exept the from the dissapointing game against Birmingham. So I am confident we can continue to play well against Arsenal and give them a fight to the door. Arsenal is a really good team with some fantastic players but we beat them here on Ewood Park last season, and I see no reason why we shouldn’t do it again this season. Even if they think we play rugby… And now we just have to wait and see if I’m gonna play up front or on midfield tomorrow

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Me and Mame with his match winning hat trick ball

This was a brilliant win for us and we totally deserved it. We were the better team in first 30 minutes of the first half but then we let Norwich in the game in the last 15 minutes. Wich we have to get better at, we just can’t let the oponent in the match we are controlling. We got the first goal on a throw inn that was flicked on by Chrissy Samba for Mame to head in goal. In the second halv we had two in the post and scored two in the last 10 minutes. Me my self got assists on the two latest goals and took the throw in that Chrissy flicked on. And I should have scored one or two but the goal keeper was good and denied me. But all in all we did really well, and me and Mame showed ourselfs as a good pair up front.

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Today we’re playing Norwich City in the Carling Cup. It is important for us to keep up the consentration so we don’t do the same mistake as we did against Birmingham. Norwich is a good Championship team wich will give us a fight to the door for a win. I am playing up front with Mame Diouf, we have a good understanding for each other so hopefully we can be a treath to their defence throughout the game. I’m gonna do my best in this match and hopefully get a goal or an assist

Morten Gamst Pedersen