BOSTON (WHDH) - All eyes will be on Norway’s star striker Erling Haaland when the team takes on the Iraq national football team at Boston Stadium Tuesday night. The 6-foot-4, 25-year-old stands out before he even touches a soccer ball.
“This guy is a freak of nature. He is like the Gronkowski for Norway,” said Brad Knighton, a former goalkeeper for the New England Revolution. “He knows how to maneuver his body. So if the defender gets on the wrong side of him, he’s so powerful and he’s got a lot of upper body strength, and his ability to turn sideways and laterally move, and then he can beat you for power, and pace vertically as well.”
Knighton said his build is a big reason why he fills up the score sheet.
“And so for him, he, he scores in bunches, too…” Knighton said. “Put four or five past somebody and not even think twice about it.”
Haaland is not just Norway’s biggest star, he is one of the biggest fan draws in this year’s tournament.
“He’s like a Hercules or an Achilles, like, you know what I mean? The blonde hair. He’s got the looks, he’s got the touch,” Knighton said.
Now, he carries the hopes of Norway, which hasn’t played in a FIFA World Cup in 28 years.
“He is the captain of the country. Everything goes through him, but he still scores goals because that’s what goal scorers do,” Knighton said. “He’s a complete package. He’s another once-in-a-lifetime player to come out and watch.”
Haaland has already scored 50 goals for his country this year.
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