Norwegian footballer goes viral for act of sportsmanship during match | OneFootball

A clip from the Eliteserien in Norway has gone viral this weekend, due to one striker halting play in a heart-warming moment of sportsmanship.

The player in question was SK Brann’s Bård Finne, who halted the game despite being through on goal.

Acts of fair play are some of the most memorable moments in football. Be it former Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa ordering his team to let Aston Villa score a goal, or Paolo Di Canio catching the ball in a game because of an injury to Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard.

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Brilliant sporting moment in Norway

And once again, there was another fantastic moment of sportsmanship, this time coming from Norway.

On Sunday afternoon, Odds Ballklubb hosted Brann, with the visitors looking to make it two wins from two games, while the hosts were looking to pick up a first win of the season.

Both teams had chances to score early on, which you can see in the highlights below.

But what you won’t see is one moment of fair play in the game which has since gone viral.

The score is still level at 0-0 as the clock ticks into the 19th minute, but Brann then have an excellent chance when their defence plays a long ball over the halfway line.

Odds BK only have one player back, and it is a race between defender Sondre Solholm and Brann attacker Finne.

But as they chase the ball down, Solholm pulls up, hobbling after the ball while grabbing his leg.

The centre-back refused to give up and continued his pursuit, but Finne definitely had the speed advantage at that point.

That is if he had chosen to use it. Because rather than run past his opponent for the chance to give his side the lead, the attacker controls the ball and halts play.

That allowed the physios onto the pitch to take care of Solholm, who was then substituted on the 22nd-minute mark.

The whole ground can then be heard applauding Finne in what was a great moment of sportsmanship which you can watch here.

Unfortunately for both Finne and Brann, they went on to lose the game 2-0, with Odds BK taking the lead shortly before half-time and then doubling it with 20 minutes left.

But the striker's act of fair play was applauded not just by the home crowd, but by football fans around the world, who have viewed the footage more than 1.5 million times.