Nico O’Reilly has dismissed Erling Haaland’s claim that England are ‘clear favourites’ to beat Norway at the World Cup, as just ‘mind games’.
The Three Lions take on the Vikings in Miami on Saturday night, with a place in the World Cup semi-finals on the line.
While England were widely predicted to make it this far, Norway have surpassed expectations, impressively defeating Brazil 2-1 in their last match.
Key to their success has been Haaland, who has scored seven goals in four appearances, one more than Harry Kane and just one behind Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
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But ahead of the quarter-final clash, Haaland insisted Norway’s chances of lifting the trophy were ‘still really low’, before hyping up Thomas Tuchel’s side.
‘There’s some clear favourites out there, England’s one of them, so I think all of you should put every single pressure on the English lads!’ the Manchester City striker told reporters.
‘It’s a special game and super special for me because I play in England and I was born in England, and I’m playing against team-mates. It’s fun.
‘To be able to be here and play on the biggest stage with my Norwegian friends against the best teams in the world is really special.
‘If you watch the scenes back home, this is not normal for Norway. To be honest, to be in quarter-finals with Norway in the World Cup, it’s quite surprising even for me.’
When asked about Haaland’s comments, O’Reilly was not falling for hisclub teammate’s humbleness, replying: ‘Yeah, mind games.’
England’s left-back continued: ‘But they’re a good team as well. They’ve showed that throughout the whole tournament.
‘It’s not just certain players that we need to worry about. They’re good collectively, and it’s going to be a good game.
‘Erling’s Erling. We all know what he’s like. He can score goals. He’s dangerous in the box, and he’s a real threat. But they need to get him the ball in first. A lot goes into it.
‘I think keeping Erling quiet gives us a real chance to win the game. We know the threat he can cause – unbelievable striker, world class and he showed that throughout the tournament, scoring every game he’s played in.’
Keeping Haaland quiet was always going to be tricky but it has become even more difficult for England in the build-up to this clash, with Tuchel facing a selection nightmare in defence.
Jarrel Quansah will serve the first of his two-match ban after getting sent off against Mexico and it remains to be seen whether Reece James has recovered enough from his hamstring injury to start.
Declan Rice is isolating away from the rest of the squad as he deals with a sickness bug, while Marc Guehi looks likely to miss out after suffering a hamstring injury.
That may prove to be a blessing in disguise however, as some believe that Tuchel should start towering centre-back Dan Burn instead, with the Newcastle United man boasting an impressive record against the physically imposing Haaland.
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