Torbjørn Eide, a fish farm boss from Senja, Norway, wasn’t about to miss the biggest soccer match in Bodø’s history. With 50,000 fans—nearly Bodø’s entire population—scrambling for just 480 tickets to the Europa League semifinal second leg against Tottenham Hotspur, Eide played a wild card. He bartered five kilos of boknafisk, a sun-dried cod delicacy worth 2,500 Norwegian crowns (214 euros), for a golden seat at the Bodø, Norway, Aspmyra Stadion. “Our boknafisk’s the best, and you can’t get it in Bodø,” Eide bragged to Norway’s NRK. Øystein Aanes, whose brother bailed on the game, bit the bait. “Just a bit of fun,” Aanes chuckled. David versus Goliath This isn’t just a quirky trade. It’s a snapshot of Bodø/Glimt’s fairy-tale run, a club from a 55,000-strong Arctic Circle town punching way above its weight. Fresh off a 3-1 loss in London, where captain Ulrik Saltnes’ late goal kept hope alive, Bodø/Glimt’s banking on their hostile home turf—artificial pitch, biting winds, and all—to rattle Spurs. They’ve already toppled giants like Lazio and Olympiacos at Aspmyra, where 8,200 fans create a cauldron louder than a Costa del Sol fiesta. “We’re not the sexiest team to meet,” defender Jostein Gundersen told BBC World Service. “It’s cold, windy, and our pitch throws opponents off.” This is soccer’s underdog spirit at its finest for anyone who is a sucker for a David versus Goliath-type battle. Bodø’s fans, some trading reindeer meat for tickets, live for their yellow-clad “Glimt”—Norwegian for “flash.” Coach Kjetil Knutsen, who turned a second-tier side into Norway’s four-time league champs in five years, smells an upset. “We’ve got nothing to lose,” he told The Guardian after the first leg. Tottenham, limping with injuries to stars like James Maddison, face a frosty fight. Eide, clutching his fish-earned ticket, sums it up: “This is our moment.” Win or lose, Bodø’s proving small towns can dream big. And the dream for now vanishes And dream they did, because just a few hours ago, they lost to the Hotspurs 0-2, losing in the aggregate 1-5, and also the chance for a shot at the Champions League as well. For now, the underdogs bask in their epic clash, while perhaps Eide holds hope for next year when the Norwegian champions might get another shot, in which case, it might be best for the fisher to start saving, or he might have to barter some world-class codfish again.