Ex-Bayern man Aas talks Norwegian football’s rise | OneFootball

A hearty laugh can be heard on the other end of the line – one that’s instantly contagious. Jan Einar Aas has already played a round of golf today. Just a moment ago, he was trimming the hedge in his garden. Things couldn’t really be much better for him, says the 70-year-old from Moss, about 60 kilometres south of Oslo, Norway, in an interview with fcbayern.com. “I have so many good memories of Munich, so of course I’m friendly!” It’s the week before FCB’s Champions League opener against Bodø/Glimt at the Allianz Arena.

Aas and Bayern: ‘It’s a bit like home’

It’s been 47 years since Aas joined Bayern. And yet it quickly becomes clear that Munich isn’t just a long-forgotten chapter in his career. He still watches the games on TV. “When I watch Bayern today, I sometimes say to myself, ‘I actually used to play there’. It’s almost unbelievable that I played for this great club,” says Aas.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß, in particular, bring back memories. He played alongside Rummenigge on the field, and Hoeneß brought him to Munich. “It makes me feel a little bit like home,” says Aas.

Back then, having a Norwegian player in the Bundesliga was anything but commonplace. Aas came up through the youth ranks of his hometown club, Moss FK, and moved to Munich in late 1979. He was the first Norwegian to play in the Bundesliga; he later went on to play for Nottingham Forest. He played in 17 competitive matches for Bayern and won the Bundesliga twice.

One memory in particular illustrates just how vast the new world seemed to him back then. Hoeneß and then-president Willi O. Hoffmann came to Norway in person to bring Aas to Munich – on a private jet. “That was truly something very special,” Aas recalls.

Moving to a new world

Even the story that Hoeneß later told time and again about the transfer is essentially accurate. Aas didn’t want to rush the decision; he needed another day to think it over and wanted to speak with an advisor. So Hoeneß had to change his plans and stay in Norway longer. The episode involving the freezing cold and footwear ill-suited for winter has since become one of Hoeneß’s best-known transfer anecdotes.

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What was still the exception in Aas’s day has long since become the norm. Today, many Norwegians play for top European clubs. Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard are among the most famous players in the world. And with Bodø/Glimt and Viking, two Norwegian clubs will face the German record champions in the Champions League.

“Without a doubt, I think this is the best era Norwegian footballer has ever seen,” says Aas. Above all, he notes, the depth of talent has changed. “The level of play right behind Haaland and Ødegaard is getting better and better. When one player is good, the second-best gets better too, and then the third, fourth and fifth.”

Norwegians playing like Brazilians

On top of that, there’s something that’s important to Aas: the team. “One for all and all for one,” he says of Norway’s national team, and he’s referring to the country’s top clubs as well. He sees a change in the team’s style of play. During the World Cup match against Brazil, people back home even joked, “Norway played the Brazilian way.”

Does he see himself as a pioneer, at least a little bit? That warm laugh again. “Me, a pioneer? No,” he says. “These players opened the door for themselves by playing good football.”

There’s one player Aas particularly enjoys watching: Haaland. “Sometimes he’s not really in the game at all. He might only touch the ball five or ten times during the entire match, and yet he still scores one, two or three goals.” That patience impresses him immensely.

Before long, the conversation turns back to Munich. Aas thinks Harry Kane is just as good as Haaland – just a different type of player. “He’s more involved in the game with the ball. I’m very impressed by him, too.”

For Aas, a lot of things lead back to Bayern. When he arrived in Munich, his German still needed work. Right from the start, Dieter Hoeneß asked him if he spoke English. A little later, the Swede Norbert Janzon approached him and asked the same question in Swedish. Aas had, after all, already learned German in school. He just wasn’t prepared for the Bavarian dialect at Säbener Straße. Nevertheless, the word Mannschaft (team) stuck with him – as did something he picked up from Klaus Augenthaler and the others: glaub i net (I don’t believe it). Aas pronounces it almost without a Norwegian accent and recalls, “They spoke to each other incredibly fast.” It worked out anyway. “It was a very, very wonderful time.”

Aas on Bodø/Glimt: ‘Incredible what this club has accomplished’

Now, with Bodø/Glimt coming to the Allianz Arena on Thursday, a piece of Norwegian football is coming to the stadium. “To me, it’s incredible what this club has accomplished,” says Aas.

He talks about the team’s growing confidence, their international experience and the work of coach Kjetil Knutsen. Bodø/Glimt may not have the biggest names, but they function well as a team. Aas singles out Patrick Berg: “He’s a very intelligent player.” Above all, he likes how natural the team’s play seems. “They’re comfortable with the ball. They don’t just kick it long and chase after it.”

What’s possible in Munich? Aas is cautious about that. “When you play against Bayern there, it’s one of the toughest games you can possibly face.” He would be “a little surprised and, at the same time, very proud” if the club from Norway’s Arctic Circle could give Bayern a really tough game.

That leaves just one question: Who is Aas actually rooting for? “Please don’t ask me that!” He laughs again. His heart is Norwegian, of course, Aas insists, but he played for Bayern. So ideally, two draws against Bodø/Glimt and Viking, and in the end everyone advances. “I think that’s what you call a diplomatic answer,” Aas says.

Meanwhile, the garden in Moss is waiting for him again. And soon he’ll enjoy a night of football during which it will likely be difficult for Aas to remain entirely diplomatic.

We’ve taken a closer look at Bodø/Glimt ahead of Thursday’s game:

Bodø/Glimt: The system behind the sensation