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(Raufoss – Tromsø 1–1) Tromsø only needed one point against Raufoss to advance. A free kick by Ruben Yttergård Jenssen ensured just that in extra time.
– This was damn delicious. That’s why soccer is played, midfielder Jostein Gundersen tells VG after the game.
His voice was hoarse when VG spoke to him on the phone after the game, and you could hear in the background that the cheering was on the ceiling. Gundersen says the champagne was already burst to celebrate the comeback promotion to the Elite Series.
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– This means a lot. We have changed coaches and got a new coach before the start of the season. It was a crown, we were not hit at the top, and we have worked very hard. So it’s so unbelievably delicious that we dump it on the ground, Gundersen says, who can’t contain the joy in the form of laughter.
TIL coach Gaute Helstrup took over in May. He is very proud of the work done before and after joining the club.
– It feels very good. I was allowed in in mid-May and I felt like I was getting on a speeding train. There are many others besides me who deserve praise: the support staff, the player, everyone who has been here this year. I’m very grateful to have been a part of this, says Helstrup, who is inspired by the success of Bodø / Glimt before trying themselves in the Elite Series again.
HEALTH: Jostein Gundersen celebrates the promotion together with the team in the Tromsø dressing room. Photo: PRIVATE
However, it was Raufoss who took the lead in the game against Tromsø, but in extra time Yttergård Jenssen scored a point and was promoted. Describe the goal as follows:
– It’s a free kick in good position. Fortunately, I gained the confidence to take it. Then it was just to place it. It was an incredibly lovely feeling to see him come in. It has been a challenging year with everything that has happened. Being part of the decision on the club’s anniversary in my heart is a magical feeling, says the 32-year-old.
He replaced Brann with Tromsø in January this year. A choice that you do not regret today.
– OBOS is not an easy challenge and it was not a given that we would handle it. I am incredibly proud of the team and of the entire club, which has been a united unit throughout the years. And then we achieve our goal is an incredibly wonderful feeling, says Yttergård Jenssen.
That it was Yttergård Jenssen who secured the promotion came as a surprise to Tromsø legend and TV 2 expert Ole Martin Årst, who sat on the bench in front of the screen to watch the game.
– I can barely remember that he has scored in training and has almost no goals in games, laugh first.
– How important is this both for the club and for the city of Tromsø?
– Oh, this was extremely important. It feels like a void when you’re down there. It’s a big loss when you sit on FotballXtra and you can’t follow TIL, but I can wait for it now, he laughs for the first time.
Another former top scorer, Sigurd Rushfeldt, also smiles after the promotion. He believes that Tromsø can face Bodø / Glimt in the long run.
– Nobody knows who from Tromsø and Bodø / Glimt in five years. TIL must have ambitions to race Glimt, but right now we have to admit that they are two or three notches ahead of us and have had a fantastic season, says “Rush”.
PROMOTION: Tromsø is ready for the Elite Series again.
Årst believes that Tromsø has been the favorite in the sprint of the season and that therefore promotion has been at stake. Glee was weak at Årst’s house when promotion was secured, and he also believes TIL is on the right track.
– I think he has something sensible after a few years with rooted Valakari and wavered between various styles. Helstrup has stepped in and led the team back to a realistic TIL that we know of.
Tromsø dropped to the 1st division after a weak 2019 season in the Eliteserien. Then it was Finn Simo Valakari who coached Tromsø, but on April 19 this year the news came that Valakari had ended up at the club.
Exactly a month after Valakari disappeared from the gates of Alfheim, then-HamKam coach Gaute Helstrup was introduced as Tromsø’s new coach.
The result now shows that Tromsø remains with 57 points after 28 games played. Sogndal is in third place with the same number of games played, and they are now seven points behind Tromsø.
Lillestrøm is in second place with 52 points, but with one game less played than Tromsø and Sogndal. Thus, they are big favorites to flee with the last position that gives direct promotion, but nothing has been decided yet.
See more Elite Series stats on VG Live.
The elite series
- Champions League qualifier
- Europa League qualifier
- Descent rating
- Decline
