Marcus Alstrup is a Danish-American goalkeeper playing for Odense Boldklub. At just 16, Alstrup has been heavily featured in OB’s U19 squad, starting seven of the thirteen matches this season. Marcus discusses his route to OB, his time trialing in Italy, and how he is approaching his dual-nationality when it comes to international play. Cover photo from Marcus’ Instagram page.
For those that may not be familiar with your story, how did you end up at Odense? And how long do you see yourself with the club?
After playing for 5 years in my hometown club (Munkebo BK), I got drafted by Odense Bk. This was in the summer when I started the U13 team. I felt that Odense BK is one of the teams in Denmark that have great success in developing goalkeepers, so that’s why it made sense for me to play there. I have always wanted to play for an international club. That is still something I work hard for and I hope it will happen sometime in the near future. Even though I enjoy playing at Odense BK, this is something I would like to pursue.
At 16, you clearly still have a long career ahead of you and are still developing as a goalkeeper. How are you going about finding your “style” as a young player? Is there a well-known goalkeeper that you could compare yourself to?
I have always been a huge fan of Iker Casillas. He was good at reading the game, so he was always in the right position at the right time so he could make the save. I compare myself with Ederson (Manchester City) and Onana (Ajax) because they are both good with their feet and understand and read the game pretty well.
You’ve trailed with Serie A club Bologna in December of 2019. How did you feel like you performed and what did you take away from that time?
I felt like I did pretty good during my training in Bologna. It was a very different experience and a very different way of training than I am used to. It was both harder and a more explosive way of training than we do here in Denmark. I got great feedback, but the trainer encouraged me to practice catching the ball as high as possible on corner kicks.
You’ve recently been playing with Odense’s U19s, going 5-1-2 (W-T-L) with you in goal during 2020. What areas of goalkeeping are the coaches encouraging you to explore and continue to grow in?
Yes, I had an okay season with the U19s this year. The coaches are encouraging me to keep working on my communication on the pitch and continue to work on longer kicks with the ball, like Ederson.
You’ve spent a decent amount of time with the Danish youth national teams. Obviously we're at a very early stage but how are you currently approaching international play, knowing you have dual citizenship with Denmark and USA? And are you getting any encouragement to play for one more than the other from family and friends?
I really enjoy playing for the Danish youth national teams. So far, I have been playing quite a few times abroad, against some really strong teams. That is such a great experience. We played against the US back in February last year. I am still young and I enjoy very much being a part of the Danish youth national team, but if possible I would like to play for the USA later on. No, my family and friends support me in whatever my dreams and goals are. So we’ll see what the future brings.