Haaland praised for not learning Grealish's bad habits

Norway coach Stale Solbakken is pleased that striker Erling Haaland was not drunk like Man City teammate Jack Grealish when celebrating the treble.

At Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul, Türkiye on June 10, Man City defeated Inter Milan 1-0 thanks to Rodri to win the Champions League for the first time. Man City is the second English club in history to win three major titles in a season, including the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League, after neighbor Man Utd in 1999.

After that, Man City players celebrated this achievement for three days. Grealish was the main character in the Cup procession in Manchester on the afternoon of June 12, when the English star stripped off and was covered in champagne by Haaland. Before that, Grealish had half-joked about staying up for two days and nights to party and drink, and had to be supported by teammate Kyle Walker after an all-night drinking party in Ibiza. When joining the England team on the evening of June 14, Grealish and the English stars of Man City, including Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden, Kalvin Phillips, were warned by coach Gareth Southgate to stop drinking, partying and focus on the game.

Haaland (shirtless) excited during the open-top bus parade in Manchester, celebrating Man City's treble. Photo: Reuters — Haaland (shirtless) excited during the open-top bus parade in Manchester, celebrating Man City's treble. Photo: *Reuters*

Similarly, Haaland only joined up with Norway on June 14, and Stale Solbakken sympathised with his three-day celebration. "I don't think you can delay a celebration like that. You can't wait until after the international break to get together and party," he said. "When he joined up with the team, Haaland didn't look like he was celebrating as much as Grealish. If Grealish can train with England straight after the break, then Haaland can too."

In the 2022-2023 season, Haaland excelled at the club level with 53 goals in all competitions. In the Premier League alone, the 22-year-old striker won the Golden Boot with 36 goals, the Best Player and Young Player of the Season titles, awarded by the tournament organizers, and the Best Player of the Season voted by the Football Writers' Association (FWA). He also won the Golden Boot and the Best Goal of the Champions League, along with the European Golden Shoe, the title awarded to the player who scores the most goals in national championships.

At international level, Haaland has only scored once - in a 2-1 defeat to Slovenia in the UEFA Nations League in September 2022. He has since missed two training camps in November 2022 and March 2023. However, Solbakken is not worried and believes that fans will motivate Haaland to win glory with Norway even if he is not at his best.

"The biggest gift is the love of the fans, because Haaland did not play for the Norwegian national team in the last two training sessions," the 55-year-old coach said. "Norwegian fans can only see Haaland on television for a long time, but cannot watch him live. So that can motivate Haaland."

Norway will host Scotland today and Cyprus on June 20 in Group A of the Euro 2024 qualifiers at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo. In the first two matches, Norway drew 1-1 with Georgia and lost 0-3 to Spain.

Hong Duy

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