Impishness is a feature of Pedersen’s personality on the field as well as off it. Mischief is the most precious commodity he brings to an otherwise tightly organised Blackburn side. Manchester United have discovered this to their cost this season. Pedersen is Blackburn’s leading Premiership scorer and second top scorer overall, and three of his eight goals have come against their Carling Cup semi-final opponents, all of them cheeky strikes.
The latest was the equaliser that left Blackburn and United level after the first leg of their semi-final at Ewood Park. Louis Saha had just put United ahead when Pedersen, with a devilish first touch, took a flick from Shefki Kuqi round Gary Neville before burying the ball beyond Edwin van der Sar with his second. At Old Trafford in September, United suffered their first defeat of the season thanks to two efforts from Pedersen, the first a cross-cum-shot from a free kick 30 yards out which surprised Van der Sar, the second a crisp finish when Pedersen struck the ball unexpectedly early after receiving a pass from Michael Gray. “It’s great to score goals against Man United, it’s just great to play them,” said Pedersen, flashing his ready grin.
The midfielder did not support any club strongly when he was growing up but, like many in Norway, followed English football on television and leaned towards United. He made his debut against United the day after signing for Blackburn in 2004 and it is no wonder, given his record, a party made up of friends and family will be crossing the North Sea to watch him on Wednesday — and staying for Blackburn’s league fixture against United seven days later.
Pedersen also happens to live in a flat in central Manchester and United could have played an even bigger part in his life had Sir Alex Ferguson firmed up an interest in signing him from Tromso in 2003. “We saw him play and had good reports about him from our scouts but we didn’t think he was what we wanted at the time. We’d just signed Cristiano Ronaldo and had Ryan Giggs,” Ferguson said. With an expression halfway between a smile and a wince, the manager added:
“He seems to have made a reputation against us, certainly. The goal he scored in the first leg was fantastic.”
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Ferguson may have been even more rueful had he known the role one of his own squad played in ensuring Pedersen’s success in English football. When Pedersen arrived at Blackburn, having been signed by Graeme Souness from Tromso for £1.5m, he found the Premiership tough initially because of his pipe-cleaner physique. Souness quit Blackburn to take over at Newcastle days after Pedersen’s debut and three games later the Norwegian found himself sidelined as Mark Hughes, Souness ’s successor, held doubts about his ability to withstand the buffeting of English games.
Three-and-a-half months passed before Pedersen got his chance in the first team again and he began to wonder whether he should have ever left the fjords. “When I wasn’t playing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called me and gave me a lot of advice. So did John Arne Riise. They were always positive and it was good to know I had friends in England,” Pedersen said. “I still contact them regularly with text messages and it’s great to have Ole back from injury. I look up to him.”
Solskjaer may remain Norway’s best and most celebrated footballer but, in their home country, Pedersen attracts more column inches. Once dubbed, semi-seriously, the “Norwegian David Beckham” his boy-band looks and happy image mean he is beloved by his nation’s photographers and features writers.
“They had a survey in a newspaper and they reckoned I was the second most famous person in Norway. First was a politician, I think, not the King. I beat the King,” Pedersen said. “I don’t mind being famous, so long as I’m famous for being a footballer.
“I don’t want to be famous
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for any other reason, I want to be myself. I’m quite a quiet guy.”
He says he might have gone into media work had he not been born with a sporting talent that saw him excel at ice hockey, handball, gymnastics, skiing and orienteering when he was a teenager. “I never fancied being a fireman,” he said. He grew up in the tiny town of Vadso, 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle, where the temperature is below freezing for an average of 198 days per year. It is on the same latitude as Siberia and “Russia is 20 miles away, just across the fjord ”.
You might expect the opportunities to become a footballer would be limited for somebody from such a background but Vadso has produced two famous players: Sigurd Rushfeldt, the Austria Vienna and former Birmingham striker, also comes from this settlement of just 5,000 people. Tromso, the nearest league outfit, has a good record in developing youth and Ernst Pedersen, who also acts as his son’s representative, moved the family there once Morten signed for the club.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a problem in Norway, particularly in the north where the winters are long and dark, but Pedersen appears to have a surfeit of merriment in his make up. “Marco van Basten was my favourite player, my hero. He scored a lot of goals and I can see a little of myself in him because he always seemed happy,” Pedersen said. “I knew when I got my chance for Blackburn I’d take it. I asked Mark Hughes questions all the time — what do you want me to do, what do you want me to work on? — and he told me. He gave me goals to work towards, I didn’t feel cast out or rejected. I believed in myself, I worked hard in training, took it seriously, kept smiling. I like to keep positive. It’s not in my nature to think the worst.”
With this in mind Pedersen regards Wednesday’s game with a certain optimism. He has every reason to — Blackburn have been United’s bogey in recent seasons, establishing a five-game unbeaten record over their more vaunted opponents, which stretches back to 2003. “They’ll want to get back at us,” Pedersen said. “You know it’s going to be a hard game at Old Trafford. But if you don’t go with confidence, expecting to get a result, you won’t get anything. Take one step back in football at the highest level and everyone can beat you. That’s half the reason Chelsea are so good — because they are so stable.”
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Ferguson, reflecting the importance the Carling Cup has assumed for United for beggars-can’t-be-choosers reasons, is talking about fielding his strongest team on Wednesday. But how Hughes would love to be involved in what should be the last major club cup final at Cardiff's Millennium stadium.
Pedersen has assuaged the manager’s concerns about his lack of brawn by demonstrating he has the touch and perceptiveness to elude most challenges from defenders and also that, despite his slightness, he can compete robustly for the ball when necessary. “Maybe I’m not the most physical player, maybe I’ve got more on the skills side, but everybody plays in different ways,” Pedersen said. “I have to play with what I’ve got.”
Watching Pedersen you feel it is pace rather than power that holds him back; with an extra yard he would be top class given his technique, dead-ball ability, two-footedness and imagination. As it is he is proving a precious player: 15 goals in 53 games for Blackburn is terrific for a midfielder who does not play for a high-scoring side and is not a penalty taker. Martin Jol is said to like him. “If people say Tottenham are interested you have to think about it. It’s how long you think about it, though. If there’s interest it shows people like what I do, but I’m having a great time at Blackburn,” he said.
He reports there is no snow in Tromso at this time of year for the first time since 1908. He also mentions he is thinking of changing his footballing moniker to Gamst. It is his mother’s name, more distinctive and the one he is known by in Norway. Blackburn will not care what handle he goes by. As long as it keeps popping up on the scoresheet.