Just over a month before Norway takes part in their first World Cup this millennium, Antonio Nusa has launched a book with the title "Alt starter med en drøm" ("Everything starts with a dream")
In the book, the 21-year-old RB Leipzig playmaker, who is expected to play a crucial part for Norway in the World Cup, says that the transfer from Stabaek to Club Brugge was not a bed of roses. He talks about envy from teammates and a tough locker room:
"I felt the dynamics. Silence. Backbiting. People who looked at me and spoke a language I didn't understand. Try to imagine that you are sitting there alone in the locker room and everyone is staring at you. Two or three guys who are supposed to be teammates are sitting there and talking about you, but not to you."
"I was still developing there, and the idea of pressure and stress was still quite new to me. It meant that I was very influenced by things that were happening around me, which is not the best thing", Nusa explains to NRK.no.
He says that it was difficult to come to a new place where everyone spoke Flemish or French, and there were no other Norwegians around him.
"I was very young, and I came to a place where I was not completely comfortable yet. It affected me on the pitch. And that's where the problem started, which in many ways was a vicious circle."
"As long as I played good football, it's fine. But when I didn't feel good on the pitch and didn't play well, it became difficult. That was the first challenge. I couldn't play like myself. As a result, there were not very good reactions from the others on the team. They didn't like it, and they didn't like me being there, taking their place."
"At the same time, I was three years younger than everyone on that team, so they were like, 'Hey, there’s a 16-year-old coming to play instead of us, and he’s not even good.” I let it get to me. He says that backbiting is not uncommon among young people.
"But it was difficult at the time, and I was alone in it. I couldn’t talk to people about it, and I think that made it even harder.
The Leipzig player says that it was so tough that at one point, he didn’t want to play for the age-specific national teams. In the book, he says that he just wanted to go home:
“I even argued with the Norwegian Football Association because I didn’t want to go to the Under-17 national team training camp; I just wanted to be home. Think about it, a youngster doesn’t want to be on the national team. But my self-confidence and motivation were on the line.”
Since then, things have improved for Nusa. Playing primarily as a dynamic winger and playmaker, he was one of the key players for RB Leipzig this season, providing valuable depth and game-breaking pace as the club finished 3rd in the Bundesliga. He played over 2,000 minutes and made 31 appearances in the Bundesliga this season, contributing important goals and assists as a starter and as an impact substitute.