Earlier this spring, the 37-year-old won a competition organized by a grocery chain and a soft drink brand. The prize included VIP tickets to the final, airfare, and a three-day hotel stay in New York. The total value was around €41.000.
The only problem was that Kristiansund had a home match in the Eliteserien on Saturday at 4:00 PM, while the final on the US East Coast was scheduled to kick off at 9:00 PM on Sunday CET. And the club made it clear that they did not want their captain to go, as they are currently in a precarious position, second from bottom in the Norwegian Eliteserie.
Ulvestad played the full 90 minutes against Sarpsborg and only then set off on the trip. He drove nine hours by car to Bergen, flew to Amsterdam, and got stuck. The connecting flight to New York was delayed by hours, and Ulvestad would have landed just 20 minutes before kickoff – too late. He then gave up on his plans, while his father Rune waited for him in the stadium in vain.
"It was terrible," Ulvestad told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. The chance to go to a World Cup final, the 37-year-old added, would "never come again." He said he had to "be careful" about what he said about the matter, but also said that he did not see eye to eye on the incident with the club. As for his thoughts on club boss Christian Gauseth, he said he would keep them to himself.
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Gauseth told NRK that the match against Sarpsborg was simply too important. "In our situation, every point can be decisive. It would have been irresponsible to do without our leader," he said.