The Facts About Erling Haaland: The Talent Of A Small Athlete

The Facts About Erling Haaland (Instagram @erling.haaland)

YOGYAKARTA -Erling Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who currently plays striker for Manchester City in the English League and the Norwegian national team. Haaland was born on July 21, 2000, in Leeds, England, while his father, Alf-Inge Haaland, played for Leeds United. He grew up in Bryne, Norway, and started playing football at a young age. So, what are the facts about Erling Haaland?

Born as an athlete

Haaland has a very strong family background in the world of sports. His parents are excellent athletes. Haaland's father, Alf-Inge Haaland, is also a professional footballer who played for several well-known English clubs such as Leeds United and Manchester City during his career.

However, Haaland Sr. became famous for being one of the most famous challenges in football's history when Roy Keane produced a disgusting tackle in a passionate Manchester derby in 2001.

His mother, Gry Marita Braun, meanwhile, was also recognized as the 90s hepthlete national champion, while his grandfather was a well-known long-distance runner in Norway.

Could be a professional handball player

While Erling followed in his father's footsteps and became a footballer, Alf-Inge revealed in an interview that he made sure his son would try various other sports before choosing football. At the age of 14, Erling already felt handball, athletics, and cross-country skiing.

A natural athlete, Haaland excels in various sports as he grows up, he is an amazing handball player, and is told by many coaches that he can have a career in the sport. His father later revealed that Norwegian handball manager wanted him to play handball.

Prolific leapers at the age of five

Did you know that Erling Haaland set his first world record at the age of five?

Despite his young age, he has practiced, participated in various sports, and built himself to become a phenomenal athlete.

On January 22, 2006, he made a stand as high as 1.63 meters!

It turned out to be a new world record, and 17 years later, that record still holds until now. Wow!

Eligible to play for England

No need to say, Haaland is the future of Norwegian football.

He has scored just 21 goals in 23 games for the Drillos, and is the face of the young and competitive Norwegian team that almost qualified for the Qatar World Cup recently.

However, Haaland was born in Leeds and could qualify to play for England. However, he imitated his father at club and state levels by choosing City and Norway, a natural decision for him because he spent most of his youth in the Scandinavian country.

The idol is Zlatan

Haaland calls various footballers his idols, including people like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. However, the name that most often appears is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

His outstanding karate shot winner against his former club Dortmund in September 2022 showed he had learned one or two things from Zlatan's manual. Not to mention, he has the same taste to score goals.

Imitating CR7 diet

Most athletes have one thing in common: they consume a lot of nutritious food to maintain excellent physicality.

Haaland is no exception in this regard. He also followed a crazy diet, and instead of wasting time following nutritionist advice, he tried hard to imitate the GOAT diet itself, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The youngest and fastest to reach a 30-goal mark in the Champions League

In the same game as above, Haaland also scored 30 goals in just 25 Champions League games, making him the fastest and youngest player to reach the milestone in the history of competition.

Ruud van Nistelrooy previously held previous records, while Lionel Messi previously held the final record.

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