MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — We all know England’s master plan is in place. world cup Saturday’s quarter-final will focus on stopping Norwegian striker Erling Haaland.
In Norway we say “Lykke til”. Translation: Good luck.
“Has anyone stopped Erling Haaland?” asked England midfielder Morgan Rodgers, perhaps somewhat rhetorically. “I don’t know if they did, but we’ll try. You should try, too.”
Stopping Haaland, who has scored seven goals in this year’s World Cup, second only to France’s Kylian Mbappé and Argentina’s Lionel Messi, will be a key subplot in Norway’s match against England at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Among them, Haaland vs. England’s Harry Kane as a striker, a Norwegian team with no pressure vs. an England team with high expectations, british airways versus norwegian airlines In a social media tweet war. At stake for the team is a place in Wednesday’s semi-finals, where the winner will face either Argentina or Switzerland.
“I think it’s Norway versus England,” Norway coach Starre Solbakken said Friday after his team completed a final walk-through ahead of perhaps the biggest match in the country’s soccer history. “But I don’t think it’s a secret that Kane is England’s number one match leader and Haaland is our number one match leader.”
In fact, the game features not one, but two elite strikers. England manager Thomas Tuchel was full of praise for Kane on Friday, and rightly so. Kane has scored six goals so far at this year’s World Cup.
“He is in good shape for his life and is at the peak of his career,” Tuchel said.
When the 6ft 5in Haaland gets the ball where he wants it, opponents find it almost impossible to stop him. He’s too big, too strong, too skilled, and the ball will almost certainly go in the back of the net.
England’s Nico O’Reilly, Haaland’s teammate at Manchester City, has seen it happen many times. And if there is a solution to Haaland’s problem, O’Reilly may have the closest thing to an answer.
His plan is to not give him the ball.
“We all know what he’s like,” O’Reilly said. “He can score goals, he’s dangerous in the box, he’s a real threat. They need him to get the ball there first.”
Haaland, who did not play for Norway as they lost to France in the group stage, scored a ton of goals in this tournament. Against Iraq, his two goals came 14 minutes apart. Against Senegal, his two goals were 10 minutes apart. Against Brazil, the difference between his two goals was 11 minutes.
He was born in England. His father was playing for Leeds at the time. And Haaland certainly understands the importance of that.
“It’s definitely a special game,” Haaland said. “I think this is very special for me because I’m playing in England, I was born in England, I’m going to be playing against my[Manchester City]teammates and everything else.”
Haaland is not the only one who has gone from friend to enemy. Norway has nine players who play for English clubs, so there will naturally be a sense of familiarity between the two teams on Saturday.
“Everything is at stake,” O’Reilly said. “Everything is at stake.”
Both teams are doing well
Saturday’s match was a dramatic one as Norway held off perennial powerhouse and five-time World Cup champions Brazil 2-1, while England traveled to Mexico City to beat previously unbeaten and scoreless co-hosts Mexico 3-2.
Both sides admit that it took them a little longer to climb back up from the heights of such victory.
“We talked about the need to forget the drama and emotion of the Mexico game,” England forward Bukayo Saka said. “Right now we need to focus on Norway, which will also be a tough challenge, another challenge and we are fully focused.”
There is a possibility that it will be close to full load.
Declan Rice, Mark Guehi and Reece James, who have been sidelined in recent days, all trained on Friday and Tuchel said he expected to have a “perfect selection” when Saturday’s squad is finalized. England will be without defender Jarrell Quansah as he begins a two-match suspension handed down after receiving a red card in the Round of 16 match against Mexico.
Rice, Guehi and James trained at Inter Miami’s facilities on Friday, with former England team co-owner David Beckham looking on.
“I think there are some obvious favorites to win, and England is one of them,” Haaland said. “So I think you should put all the pressure on the England players.”
Haaland said this with a smile, which remained the same throughout the tournament. He enjoys this on and off the field.
He is a walking, talking meme, someone who gets a lot of attention with everything he does and says. When British great Wayne Rooney said he rowed ( A tribute to Norwegian rowing tradition ) If Norway beat Brazil, down the Mersey, word got to Haaland – who, according to British media reports, reminded Rooney that he had a job rowing.
All eyes will be on Haaland. England must find a solution for him or his World Cup appearance will end in Miami.
“I think this is the biggest challenge,” Rodgers said. “But that’s also the challenge that excites this group.”
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AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
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