Thelo Aasgaard celebrated his first call-up to the senior Norway squad with his maiden goal in a Luton Town shirt on a day to remember in Cardiff.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder found out he had been selected by his country’s former Wolves manager Ståle Solbakken on Tuesday morning, while at the team hotel in the Welsh capital.
He rounded off a wonderful day on a personal level by grabbing the 80th-minute winner at Cardiff City Stadium after Jordan Clark’s stunning volley had cancelled out Calum Chambers’ opener for the Bluebirds.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said our January signing from Wigan, when asked about his perfect day on LTFC+. “I’m really happy, but I’m really happy that the team effort came off today and we got a massive three points.”
The win took Town to within two points of the hosts in the fight for survival at the foot of the Championship table, but also brought an end to the 15-match winless sequence on the road in the league, 16 in all competitions.
On whether it felt more than just a result for the 400-plus Hatters in south Wales, he replied: “Yes, it does. I think you could see with the away support, they backed us all game and they helped us when we went 2-1 up. They were behind us, so I’m really happy for them and you could see what it meant to them at the end.
“We’ve just got to try and keep that momentum going into the next game now.”
Thelo’s first goal for the club brought his tally for the season to 13, after a prolific first half of the campaign in League One with Wigan.
It came after he followed Josh Bowler’s low shot into the box, with a block by Cardiff defender Dimitrious Goutas ricocheting into his path to present the chance to fire past former Town keeper Ethan Horvath from close range.
Thelo said: “I think it’s just persistence really. It’s a case of even if things aren’t falling for you at the start of a game, always being persistent and just arriving in the areas. If you’re there enough, the ball comes to you, so I’m just really happy that I was on the end of that one.”
The victory made it two wins in three matches, following the home success against Portsmouth prior to last Saturday’s loss at Burnley.
Asked whether he feels that momentum is building ahead of the home clash with Middlesbrough, he said: “Yes, it’s six points out of a possible nine in the last three games and if we can get a win against Middlesbrough, there is some real momentum that we can take into the international break, and then we can reset and go again.”
