A tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Norwegian goalscorer who has wit and charm to match—how can you not love Erling Haaland?
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The Borussia Dortmund striker is having a dream season as he has scored a staggering 31 goals in 30 games in all competitions. It seems Haaland fears no defender, goalkeeper, or even reporter, as he is just as sharp in post-match interviews.
All the times Haaland made us laugh
Coming from a footballing family—his father played professionally, most notably for Leeds United—Haaland is probably accustomed to the pressure of being in the spotlight.
After a match last November, a reporter asked about his teammate Youssoufa Moukoko, who is only 16-years-old. Haaland gushed about Moukoko, calling him the biggest talent in the world.
To which the reporter asked:
If he’s the biggest talent in the world then what are you?
Without skipping a beat, Haaland straight-faced answered:
Yes, I’m over 20 years old now, so I’m getting old now.
The 'old' man had another memorable interview more recently after scoring two goals against Sevilla in the Champions League. The striker had a penalty initially saved by the goalkeeper, only for it to be retaken for encroachment. On the second attempt, Haaland scored.
When asked to describe the situation, the Norwegian took a long pause. He minced no words about his adversary in goal that day. He said:
It was a penalty, I missed, and then he cheated, so then I took it again and scored when he didn’t cheat.
A huge following
It is not just in the footballing world where Haaland is catching attention.
He recently posted a picture to Instagram of him sporting Nike flip-flops, black sweatpants, and a black t-shirt featuring flowers and a lion prominently on the front. None other than DJ Khaled commented under the post, 'Nice T-shirt!'
Who knew the man that coined the phrase, 'another one,' would be one of Haaland’s 7.3 million followers on Instagram. Perhaps a collaboration may happen in the future.
