Is Erling Haaland playing for Norway against Scotland? Lineups for UEFA Euro qualifiers announced
Erling Haaland will start for Norway against Scotland in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier on Saturday (June 17) in Oslo. Apart from Haaland, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is also a part of the team.
Stale Solbakken's team are coming off a 1-1 draw against Georgia. They are fourth in the group with one point from two games. Haaland is coming off a tremendous campaign with Manchester City. The 22-year-old scored 52 goals across competitions for the Cityzens in their historic treble-winning season.
He scored 36 times in the Premier League, a competition record, and 12 in the UEFA Champions League. Norway will hope for a similar high-class performance from the red-hot striker.
What Norway manager said about Erling Haaland's participation against Scotland?
Manchester City players went on to celebrate in style after winning the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Hence, questions were asked about whether Erling Haaland could start for Norway against Scotland this weekend.
Manager Stale Solbakken allayed such concerns, confirming that the talismanic attacker trained as usual. Confirming Haaland's participation against Scotland, Solbakken said (via GOAL):
"I think everyone understands that, and I also think it’s a good idea to do that. I don’t think you can postpone a celebration like that. You can’t say ‘let’s meet up in the summer when these national games are over, and we party’."
Solbakken added:
"It’s not the same because the excitement is a little bit out of your body, and you have to do it then. When he (Haaland) came here, he didn’t look like he had gone the Grealish way. If Grealish managed to train for England the first time, he (Haaland) should also manage to do it for us."
Erling Haaland has scored 21 goals in 23 appearances for his national team. The 22-year-old will look to have his scoring boots on against Scotland, having netted only twice in his last nine games across competitions for City.