How Erling Haaland’s summer of yachting and wood-chopping led to Man City goal-machine’s lightning-quick start to the Premier League season
Erling Haaland was back in Norway this week and back amongst the goals. While the striker has already won every trophy imaginable with Manchester City, his international career has been one of great frustration.
It has not been for lack of trying on his part, as he has scored a remarkable 32 times in 35 appearances, but he has been let down by the overall quality of his team-mates, with the exception of Martin Odegaard and Alexander Sorloth. Norway have failed to qualify for a major tournament since Euro 2000 and couldn’t even make the play-offs to qualify for Euro 2024 or the 2022 World Cup.
More misery followed in the Nations League last week as Norway drew 0-0 away to Kazakhstan, but, back on home turf on Tuesday, Haaland fired his nation to victory against Austria, the most fashionable team at the Euros.
At first there was a familiar feeling of frustration when Haaland slammed the ball into the net as he looked across and saw the offside flag was up. The frustration soon turned to elation, however, after a VAR review ruled the goal onside. Norway held on to win a first competitive match at home for almost a year and the joy of leading his national team to an important win can only further lift Haaland’s mood as he prepares to resume the Premier League season with City at home to Brentford on Saturday.
Not that he needed a lift, as he is already in truly ferocious form, with seven goals in three games. And it is all thanks to him having a proper summer holiday, most of which was spent back in his homeland.
Haaland got to enjoy the rarest thing for elite footballers in 2024 – an extended break. Thirty-four days, to be precise, 10 days longer than he had previously enjoyed ever since he was 17. He got an extra week on top of that between the FA Cup final and Norway’s international friendlies in June, too, in which he returned home.
Haaland’s reboot began in Marbella, where he owns property, and he was seen DJing at the Playa Padre beach club. It was not all peaceful though, as he was caught up in a separate beach club during a raid by armed police.
He was able to get back in the holiday vibe when he, his girlfriend Isabel Haugseng Johansen, family and friends took out a luxury yacht and sailed from Saint-Tropez in France towards the picturesque island of Capri off the coast of Naples. According to the Daily Mail, the yacht, cost €100,000 (£84,000/$110,000) per week to rent and had a jet ski, paddle boards and diving equipment on board.
Haaland may love the sun and beaches like most footballers, but he is also firmly in touch with his roots. That is why he then went back to Norway for the final stretch of his extended break, and he visited the mountain district of Voss, known for its white-water rafting and hiking, and Haaland relaxed by the lake, meditating on the rocks.
