Erling Haaland booked Norway a clash with Brazil in the last 16 of the World Cup but didn’t sound too confident about their chances.
The Manchester City superstar scored a late winner for his country as they beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on Tuesday.
Antonio Nusa had opened the scoring for the Norwegians in the first half, but Manchester United’s Amad Diallo came off the bench to equalise.
Haaland tapped in the final goal of the game in the dying minutes to secureNorway’s first ever win in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
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Next comes a glamour tie with Brazil on Sunday and, despite scoring his fifth goal of the tournament, Haaland was not talking up his team’s hopes.
Asked about Norway’s chances against the five-time winners, he said, via ESPN: ‘Very slim.’
Worrying for Norway, he was similarly pessimistic ahead of the meeting with France in the group stages, which ended in a 4-1 win for the French.
‘They will probably beat us and be champions,’ Haaland predicted ahead of that game.
However, he was much more upbeat about the occasion of playing Brazil at the World Cup.
‘This is crazy. I can’t believe I’m going to play against Brazil,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a joke. It’s total madness. Another step in the journey, I’m excited.’
Norway boss Stale Solbakken has no doubt that he has the best goal-scorer on the planet in his team and would not swap him for any other player.
‘He is the greatest goal-scorer in the world, there is no doubt about that,’ said the boss.
‘Today he didn’t have much involvement, but he had a big chance in the first half and then scored the goal in the game. He is out of this world.
‘He brings calm and a coldness to the team when you have a player like him.
‘I actually think he is very under-rated in terms of holding the ball up. He didn’t lose the ball once today and that brings so much to the team.
‘I know he feels proud to be part of this, playing for his country, but he also knows this is a team that works together and he needs service from his team-mates.
‘To score five goals in three games at a World Cup for a little country like Norway is amazing, so all credit to him.
‘And no, I wouldn’t swap him for anyone.’