“No one thought Erling Haaland could go this far,” said Gunnar Halle, a close friend of Haaland’s family and a professional coach.
The Norwegian striker is now a global football phenomenon. Even in the digital age, where people are starting to favor statistics, there is rarely a young striker who breaks as many records as Erling Haaland.
Haaland is making an impression on world football. Photo: Getty .
A father’s nightmare
Erling Braut Haaland was born in Leeds in the summer of 2000. His father, Alf-Inge Haaland, was then a football player in England. Alf-Inge was a pillar of Leeds United, the sassy club of British football in the late 20th century.
A month before Erling was born, his father decided to move to Manchester City for 2.5 million pounds. This is considered a peaceful landing for the Norwegian midfielder in his final stages in England, when he can continue to play in the Premier League for a mid-range club.
However, hope quickly turned into a nightmare for the Haaland family. In April 2001, in the Manchester derby, midfielder Roy Keane had a tackle described as “the most dangerous of all time” with Alf-Inge Haaland.
The MU star was then fined ยฃ5,000 and banned from playing 3 matches. In his autobiography, Keane claimed that what he did to Alf-Inge was revenge for the criticism the Norwegian player said to him three years ago.
FA then stepped in. Roy Keane was banned for 5 more matches and fined ยฃ150,000, a record amount at that time. However, the FA’s penalty cannot dispel the shadow that falls on Haaland’s family.
Roman Burki, current teammate at Dortmund, believes that for a young player like Erling, the most difficult thing is keeping his feet on the ground after the praise. “I believe he can overcome it, because of his professionalism and serious attitude towards his job,” Burki said.
Erling seems to be the type of player that every coach in the world dreams of having in the squad. A guy who grew up with football, inherits family traditions, has good physical shape and a serious working attitude. This summer, Erling turns 20 years old, and in front of him is the sky.
