Erling Haaland bagged a brace in Italia’s clash with Noruega. After the final whistle, the striker revealed how Gianluca Mancini resorted to unusual tactics to try and put him off his game.
The spoils went to Norway, who secured their place at the World Cup after a 28-year absence. Erling Haaland was, once again, the star of the show, scoring twice to take his tally to 16 goals.
The City forward was understandably delighted, but he also shared a bizarre anecdote with ‘TV2’ after the 90 minutes: “Mancini was always on me, often grabbing my backside. At one point, I got fed up and shouted, ‘What are you doing?’. But then I thanked him because he motivated me, allowing me to score two goals.”
And, in truth, it almost worked, although the greats always find a way. Gattuso said this when asked about Haaland: “He didn’t touch the ball for an hour and then he scored a screamer. He’s a goalscoring machine.”