Hearts midfielder Sander Kartum knew what he wanted to do, what it meant to him and his family should he score against Dundee in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
Before the match, he wrote out the word ‘Farmor’ and taped it on to his shin pad. The plan was to find the net and celebrate by taking it out of his sock and pointing to the sky. Somebody very special was looking down on Kartum.
The quiet 29-year-old, who left his native Norway at the end of January to join Hearts from Brann Bergen, has had a difficult week. He received the devastating news that his grandmother, Ragnhild, also known as “Farmor” in Norwegian, had died a month later. They were near.
The funeral was held at home on Friday, coinciding with Hearts’ match against Dundee in the round of eight. Head coach Neil Critchley gave Kartum just his second start in maroon, therefore he was unable to attend. The faith was rewarded after two exquisite left-footed goals as the Jambos defeated Dundee 3-1 to guarantee their place at Hampden.
“Getting off to a strong start was important to me, and scoring two goals was really special,” Kartum added. “I missed the celebration because it was to honour my grandmother, who passed away last week, and she had a funeral today.”
Kartum was overcome with emotion and had to take a moment to gather himself. “Yeah, I couldn’t go,” he continued, “so I had to play the game. Those were difficult weeks. It was nice to honour her and get two goals because she passed away last week.
“It’s difficult to talk about, but yeah, she’s a special person. I try to honour her when I get the goal.”
Although it has taken Kartum about a month to get used to life in Scotland, Hearts supporters are beginning to see why Critchley was so eager to bring him over the North Sea. He had a reputation for having a left foot with style and an eye for goal, which he demonstrated with his goals both inside and outside of the penalty box.
Kartum remarked of his performance, “It gets better and better each week.” It was difficult for me to get my first start at St. Mirren last week. It was preferable for me to play good football today since St. Mirren is a difficult club to play against. It keeps improving because they have more possession and get on the ball more.
“I came for pre-season in Norway to settle down here, and now I’ve trained for two months, and physically I’m getting better. I think Scottish football suits me.”
Kartum is now eagerly anticipating another at Hampden. He has never reached this juncture of a cup competition before – and visited the national stadium in January for a heart scan as part of his medical.
“I’m looking forward to playing at Hampden,” added Kartum. “I’ve been there, just looked at the stadium once before I signed, and it’s a special stadium. I’m looking forward to getting to the semi-final, and hopefully we get a good draw.”
Leave a Reply