Erling Haaland poses with former Miss Croatia Ivana Knoll as they meet in Ibiza
Croatian social media influencer Ivana Knoll, known as 'World Cup's sexiest fan'. posed with Manchester City forward Erling Haaland in Ibiza. The Norwegian striker has been enjoying some downtime in Spain after his stellar campaign with the Cityzens.
Haaland scored 52 goals across competitions for Pep Guardiola's side in 2022-23. He was sublime in his first season in England after joining the Cityzens from Borussia Dortmund.
Knoll, on the other hand, rose to fame for being crowned Miss Croatia. She got further attention after attending high-profile games and meeting with football stars.
Erling Haaland and former-Miss Croatia Ivana Knoll in Ibiza 🔵🇭🇷
He'll need to start firing in the goals for Norway if she wants to see him again at Euro 2024 😅 https://t.co/hwmCFcNWxa
Knoll became a point of conversation during the 2022 FIFA World Cup after being spotted in several games. The model claimed that she even received marriage proposals from players that participated in the showcase tournament in Qatar. Knoll said last year (via Daily Mail):
"I am only having fun with everybody. I suppose people like me because I am good looking. I am not interested in meeting with anybody here. My intention is to make people smile, that is all. The fans I meet everywhere love me. But when I go to matches now, my friends won’t sit with me and move away to other seats because of the cameras."
Rio Ferdinand recently compared Erling Haaland's mentality to that of Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester City ace Erling Haaland is one of the leading strikers in world football at the moment. His goalscoring ability is quite sensational. The Norwegian, apart from his footballing skills, is relentless in his mentality.
Rio Ferdinand compared Haaland's mentality to that of Cristiano Ronaldo. After Haaland played a starring role in City's victorious campaign, Ferdinand said he found similarities between his and Ronaldo's mentality. The former Red Devils central defender said (via Eurosport):
"It’s the mindset. I mean, that’s the separator. That separates the good from the great. This guy is going to be relentless, you can see it. I see shades of Cristiano in the mentality."
He further added:
"When you look in his eyes it’s not just about selfish me wanting to be the focal point and score every single goal and every ball has to come to me. He’s about the functionality of the team and he’s playing his role perfectly.”
Erling Haaland is only 22. Hence, he still has lots of room for improvement. He is already one of the top strikers in European football. In a star-studded City team under Pep Guardiola, Haaland can only be expected to get better.