Bodø/Glimt achieved a historic victory Wednesday, defeating Inter Milan 3-1 in the Champions League knockout stage at Aspmyra stadium. The win marks the first time a Norwegian team has won a match in the Champions League’s elimination rounds.
The match’s opening goal came from Sondre Brunstad Fet, a 29-year-old midfielder who, remarkably, once outperformed future Olympic champion Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in a cross-country skiing competition fifteen years ago. According to Bodø/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen, Klæbo’s success may have hinged on Fet’s decision to pursue football. “I reckon Klæbo is quite glad too. He wouldn’t have been the greatest Olympian if Fet had stuck with cross-country skiing. We have to frame it that way,” Knutsen said after the game.
Fet’s path to Champions League glory wasn’t straightforward. He was once considered a promising cross-country skier, even surpassing Klæbo in a 2-kilometer classic race during their youth. Though, the demands of training for two sports simultaneously proved unsustainable. “The strain on my body became too much in the last year. I ended up being overtrained,” Fet told Sunnmørsposten in 2018.
Despite the difficult choice, Fet expressed no regrets. When asked which was “cooler,” an Olympic gold medal or a strong performance in the Champions League, he responded without hesitation, “To dominate in the Champions League.”
The celebration following his goal took an unexpected turn when Fet revealed he is expecting a child. The news came as a surprise to his teammates. Jostein Gundersen admitted, “I had to congratulate him during the break. I had no idea. ‘What’s happening here?’ He hadn’t said anything to us, at least not to me.” Odin Bjørtuft, a fellow defender, described the moment as “a bit absurd, but still nice to disconnect with something else.”
Sondre Brunstad Fet currently plays as a central midfielder for Bodø/Glimt, having joined the club in 2021 after a loan spell in 2020. He has been with the club since 2021, with a contract extending through June 2028. Prior to joining Bodø/Glimt, Fet played for Aalesund, beginning his senior career with Sykkylven in 2012. He has too represented Norway at the U-18 level.
