Haikin the hero as Bodo/Glimt Europa League fairytale continues

Europa League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Lazio v Bodo/Glimt - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - April 17, 2025 Bodo/Glimt's Nikita Haykin celebrates after saving Lazio's Loum Tchaouna penalty during the penalty shootout REUTERS/Alberto Lingria

Bodo/Glimt's incredible run in the Europa League continued on Thursday as they bounced back from conceding three goals to force a penalty shoot-out that keeper Nikita Haikin won for them by saving the decisive spot-kick against Lazio, sending the Nordic nation into raptures.

Nowhere will those celebrations be bigger than inside the Arctic Circle in Bodo, where fans will now be preparing for a semi-final against English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur after one of the greatest nights in Norwegian sport.

"There are so many ifs and buts and brackets, but the team did it. Nikita is decisive for us. He decided both the match and the penalty shoot-out," Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen said following the 3-2 shoot-out win after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.

"Nikita is a fantastic penalty keeper. We knew that the chance was good if there was a penalty shoot-out," added midfielder Patrick Berg, who had every reason to be grateful to his keeper after blazing what could have been the decisive kick high over the crossbar.

For Haikin, the shoot-out win was a moment of redemption in a career that has seen some incredible twists and turns, from seeing his hero Petr Cech train when he was a junior player at Chelsea through clubs in Spain, Russia, Israel and England.

"It's crazy! I didn't think the game would go this far, but we couldn't give up. We just had to keep going," an emotional Haikin said. "We knew the chances were coming. I couldn't be happier. This means a lot to all of Norway. For Bodø. For my family. It's huge. A historic night."

Such was the scale of the fairytale victory that Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was quick to offer his congratulation on social media.

"Reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League is huge – it shows what’s possible when you give everything for the shirt. A great night for the northerners and for all of Norwegian football in Rome," he wrote on X.