Where do we even begin with this guy? He’s left us short of adjectives already. Yet, here he is, starting another match, and banging a few more goals.
The only difference? This time, it was for his national team, Norway. Erling Haaland struck twice, including a late winner, in their 3-2 defeat of Denmark in the UEFA Nations League.
Having gradually found his rhythm in the new season with Manchester City after a relatively slow start, he’s now taking the international stage by storm once more.
At the World Cup a few months back, Haaland demonstrated his freak goalscoring potential with seven goals in his first major international outing with Norway.
Although he was outscored by Kylian Mbappe (10) and a certain Lionel Messi (8), the striker’s exploits guided the Nordic side to a respectable quarter-final finish at the cup, driving out heavyweights Brazil along the way too.
Erling Haaland turning international football into his playground
Now back with the national team over two months later, Haaland returned with a wham. His two well-taken goals on the night proved instrumental in seeing off a gritty Danish side that wiped out their two-goal advantage and threatened to take a point away from Oslo.
After Oscar Bobb broke the deadlock for Norway in the 14th minute, Haaland got into the act another four minutes, latching onto an incisive through ball from Antonio Nusa after driving into the space in behind Denmark’s defense and smashing it right through Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen’s legs for 2-0.
It seemed like the Red, White and Blue were already home and hosed, but Denmark fought back through Mikkel Damsgaard and Rasmus Hojlund in either half. Norway needed another goal to seal the win, but cometh the hour, cometh Erling Haaland.
The City ace barged inside the box to connect with Martin Odegaard’s layoff after a corner was played short, blasting it into the near post with the precision of a Swiss knife. With this brace, he’s now on nine international goals from just eight appearances and he has another five games this year to add to his ever increasing Norway tally.
Up next, Haaland vs Ronaldo
Haaland’s relentless goalscoring pace holds Norway in good stead ahead of their crucial Nations League encounter against holders, Portugal. But the more interesting narrative here is Haaland coming up against another prolific goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo.
This will be the first time the two players cross paths, either for club or country. They did, however, came close back in 2022 in a Manchester derby although Ronaldo spent the entire match on the bench. But this time, with both players spearheading their nation’s charges, fans would surely get to see the two goalscoring phenoms going head-to-head on the field.
Norway host Portugal on Sunday, 27 September.