Norway’s national men’s football team has gone from the thrill of victory to the agony of another defeat during the past few days, and its star player Erling Braut Haaland avoided questions even though he was acting captain. Now he’s apologized, but it hasn’t helped much.
Haaland, his teammates and Norwegian fans were in ecstasy after last Thursday’s match against Slovenia. They finally won after a string of frustrating defeats, and by an impressive score of 3-0. Haaland kicked in two of them and also broke a national record for goals by individual players in national team matches.
On Sunday the Norwegians were up against Austria, ended up losing by a score of 5-1 and were back down in the dumps. Several players called it “embarrassing” and were open about mistakes made, while Haaland simply stormed past reporters and refused to account for his own.
He later sent out a message via social media, where he wrote (in his own Norwegian dialect) that he was sorry and that he’d done a very bad job. Embattled team coach Ståle Solbakken ended up taking most of the blame, agreeing that the match was a total “collapse” and adding that “if there’s anyone to blame, it’s me.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff