"It's better that he's not here." This is how forceful Kepa Arrizabalaga, goalkeeper of the Spanish team, was shown when asked about the absence of Erling Haaland in the Spain-Norway match, corresponding to the qualifying phase for Euro 2024, which will be played this Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga.
The certain thing is that the voracity of the Norwegian forward of the Manchester City frightens. This season alone, Haaland has scored 42 goals for his team so far in the 2022-2023 season. Without going any further, he signed a hat-trick (another one) in his last game, where the citizen beat Burnley in the FA Cup.
With such beastly numbers, Haaland is the star of Norway (he has accumulated 21 goals in 23 games with his country) and was going to be the great threat for Luis de la Fuente's Spain in Malaga this Saturday. However, the Nordic giant was forced to leave the concentration of his team in Marbella last Tuesday.
As reported by the Norwegian federation, Erling Haaland finished Manchester City's match against Burnley with pain due to a groin injury. The Norwegian coaches and doctors were confident that the player could recover from his discomfort in time for the match against Spain, but it worsened after arriving at the training camp with his team.
After leaving the Norwegian camp, the striker traveled to Barcelona for further tests at a hospital associated with Manchester City. For now, what is clear is that Haaland will miss Norway's two Euro qualifiers against Spain and, three days later, against Georgia.
There are those who have interpreted the departure of Erling Haaland as a slight to the Norwegian team, arguing that he has given priority to his club over his country. It should be remembered that Manchester City faces Liverpool in the Premier on April 1 and 10 days later they will play the first leg of the quarterfinals against Bayern Munich.
However, Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken denied such insinuations: "If they had seen him in my hotel room at midnight they would know [his desire to play]; he is immensely frustrated and has done everything he can."
The player's father, Alf-Inge Haaland, also acknowledged in an interview on Norwegian television TV 2 Sport that his son was very sad at not being able to defend his country's colors against Spain and Georgia, "but he must prioritize his health and that your body will be fine again.
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