Norway striker Erling Haaland suffers a barrage of boos after snubbing young fans outside stadium
CRAIG HOPE: Erling Haaland should have retired for Norwegian fans after their defeat to Scotland, but there was some mitigation – he just realized he will be at least 25 before playing in a major tournament
- Erling Haaland was booed after he turned down young Norwegian supporters
- Haaland had already bypassed the media after his party’s defeat
- Lyndon Dykes made a big impression late on when Scotland overcame Norway
Erling Haaland had already evaded the media – which was not well received by the Norwegian press – but when he subsequently evaded the children who chanted his name outside Ullevaal Stadium, the conviction was complete.
Some of those waiting in Scotland’s cheering coach behind the home bus on which Haaland had boarded were unimpressed by his ignoring the young fans, armed only with pen and paper.
The boys and girls in their junior red jerseys, costing £70 here, sent a chorus of boos at their hero. They will remember his stupidity. He should have taken a few minutes, as his teammates had, to sign some shirts and pads.
Why was Haaland sulking? At least there is some relief. Especially the realization that he will be 25 by the time he gets the chance to play in a major tournament.
Norway, who last took part in Euro 2000, will most likely not go to next summer’s European Championship after this defeat – they have one point from three games – and columnists in leading newspaper VG on Sunday are questioning manager Stale’s future Solbaks. “Either there is a curse on this job – or maybe we choose the wrong national coaches?” they meant.
Erling Haaland was booed after snubbing young fans after Norway’s loss to Scotland
Haaland ignored the young Norwegian supporters who had already bypassed the media
And that’s another reason for Haaland’s pinch. He was taken off after 84 minutes with Norway leading 1–0 thanks to the penalty he won and converted.
That was when Lyndon Dykes, the QPR striker who scored eight goals in the Championship last season, stole the headlines from Haaland and netted the equalizer on 87 minutes before knocking off Kenny McLean to score the winner less than 100 seconds later.
Who would have thought that Dykes would be the best No. 9 on the field? The Scotland star laughs at my suggestion.
“No, honor where it’s due,” he said. “After the game I shook his (Haaland’s) hand and I said to him, ‘You’re a beast, you’ve absolutely killed the Premier League’. I just wanted to say that to him. He said, “Well done”. He was disappointed, but it was good to talk. He’s great, everyone can see that, his numbers are absolutely incredible.’
Same question to Andy Robertson – who had won the battle of the No 9s?
Lyndon Dykes scored and got an assist in Scotland’s late win against Norway
Scottish defender Andrew Robertson praised Dykes for the impact he made
‘I just heard you ask Lyndon, you use that quite often, don’t you?!’ replied the captain of Scotland.
“Dykesy ran off his socks for 80 minutes without getting much reward. He flickered on to players who weren’t there.
“Then, the last 10 minutes, he came alive. Suddenly we had players who could get around him. You started to see his link-up game. For not playing for the past five weeks due to the championship ending early, those last 10 minutes were extremely impressive.’
It wasn’t just Dykes, Scotland as a team have been impressive under Steve Clarke for some time now. Momentum builds and magic sparkles around them, much like what has happened to Wales and Northern Ireland in recent years. Now it feels like it’s Scotland’s turn.
If they win their next two, at home to Georgia on Tuesday and away to Cyprus in September, they could become one of the first countries to qualify for Euro 2024, a podium befitting this brilliant team alongside the best players in the world. continent. All except Haaland, that is.