MetLife Arena, drenched in water and waiting with bated breath for the moment of flash flood warning to arrive in the fiftieth minute. Man, the Norwegian sea of crimson was supposed to score when it finally scored. The Erling Haaland moment; Viking stamp on game. He too had to wait, as he had endured a solitary first-half spell, until he saw a delightful pass from his teammate Martin Odegaard; His mower hit the base of the post.
Two goals in the space of nine minutes followed, enough of a cushion to hold off a delayed comeback from Senegal (3-2), which saw Norway advance to the round of 32 in their long-awaited return to the World Cup. And how he and his teammates celebrated this historic victory with a rowing celebration in the middle of the pitch, mimicking and clapping from the stands.
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But the Haaland moment was inevitable, even if he was passive in the first half. Lionel Messi scored a brace; Like Kylian Mbappe, the Golden Boot was showing a race for the ages.
At least for the charm of the three-horse race, Haaland couldn’t get out of the race to break the duopoly. And he did so with a strange calmness. Ødegaard’s well-weighted pass, splitting the midfield pairing of Moussa Niakhaté and Kalidou Koulibaly, found him in enough space to drill the ball past Eduard Mendy.
Haaland, with an eerie smile, turned to the flag in the corner, where he and Ødegaard posed on either side of the flag. The side stands broke into a symphonic row chanting Haaland’s name. They were rowing; Holland was riding the wave.
Erling Haaland (9) scored his team’s third goal in the match against Senegal. (AP Photo/Seth Weinig)
The first goal was cathartic; Another invaluable. Senegal, cutting loose, was the only way they could force a comeback in a game where they defended with incredible sloppiness, halving the arrears through Ismaila Sir’s sliding finish. A sudden wave of energy engulfed them. But Haaland washed it away with a sniper’s deadeye finish. He looked like a regular, exercising a neat shot at his feet from an angle that went off the crossbar.
But his late body transformation was sublime, and what made him an elite striker. He was shooting with his left foot, which he often does. But with the defender moving back, he won’t be able to create space and control the ball as he would like. So he quickly cavorted and wrapped his right leg around the ball which landed at hip level. Mendy was surprised by his quick change of mind. Even if not, his shot was so sweetly-timed that the Senegalese net-minder would have been unable to resist its venom. It was celebrated on a cold and damp night when it was illuminated. He poked his ears at the crowd. He wanted more noise, they wanted more goals.
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From 3-1 down, the door closed on a comeback for the African Cup final.
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After his brace, the Golden Boot race reads: Messi 5; Mbappe 4; Haaland 4. The Norwegian has shown that he is a worthy rival for them and a potential heir to their throne. The Mbappe-Haaland sprint may define football for years to come, but in this edition, Messi’s shadows loom over them. Haaland pressed on and probed for a hat-trick goal that would have taken him level with Messi. But it didn’t come like the rain that was forecast to pour down the New Jersey night. He faces Mbappe next, but there are big battles to be won.
The 25-year-old is Norway’s poster boy, qualifying for the tournament after 28 years. In the past few decades, they had a functional, energetic team with no talismans. In Haaland, they have found one. His rise is even more special than that of Messi and Mbappe. Because, in Norway, the lineage of elite athletes was not very long. In Haaland, they have found someone who can reliably influence the game to decide the big moments. Win them trophies they never dreamed of.
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Defensive contribution
Equally remarkable was his defensive contribution in a nervous end-game. Senegal were awarded a corner kick in the last minute of stoppage time. All their men, except the goalkeeper, were inside the box. Ismail Jacobs bent into the box and fired a delightful ball over the forehead of Sara, whose brace gave Senegal hope of a comeback. But Haaland pressed on to him and although Sir’s ball connected with the ball, the header was off target as Haaland blocked his sight.
When the final whistle blew, with the ennui of the first half made up for by a lackluster second half that ended the game, Haaland didn’t forget Marcus Pedersen, who scored Norway’s first goal. He hugged and thanked, as would all of Norway. It wasn’t a flawless performance from Norway, but they had a flawless Holland.