Norway kicks off its first ever UEFA Nations League A campaign against Denmark at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo on Thursday, with kick-off scheduled for 8:45 p.m. local time. The draw has placed Norway in a group with Denmark, Portugal and Wales, per the UEFA draw.
The focal point, as always, is Erling Haaland. And the Erling Haaland the world sees off the pitch is not the polished superstar template.
His Snapchat, followed by millions, is a stream of nostril close-ups shot from below, photos of him lounging in flamboyant silk pajamas and glimpses of a diet that owes more to an ancestral menu than a modern nutrition plan: steak, heart, liver, raw milk, honey. Fans have turned even his running mechanics into a meme, likening his sprint to a video game glitch or an ostrich in a hurry, as The Daily Star put it in a recent feature on his online persona.
A meditation pose he means
The famous seated goal celebration, legs crossed and thumbs to forefingers on the turf, is not a joke.
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“I really enjoy meditation. It makes feel calm and gives me tranquillity. This is why I sometimes celebrate like that when I score,” Haaland told Esporte Interativo.
The habit is older than his Manchester City career. In a Borussia Dortmund interview carried by Bundesliga.com in 2020, he explained how he winds up for kick-off.
“Before a game, I always listen to a song called ‘Keep Dreaming’ – and I also meditate.”
Ice baths, saunas and a hypoxic chamber
The disciplined side of the routine is less quotable and less strange. Euronews reported in July that Haaland cycles through ice baths and saunas four or five times a week and uses a hypoxic chamber at Manchester City, where thinner-oxygen conditions simulate high altitude, to help him recover between sprints.
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His nutrition philosophy, in the same piece, is unfussy.
“I love food, and I said it before; I live to eat food no matter what happens in the day,” he told the outlet.
What Denmark walks into
Ticket sales for Thursday at Ullevaal are on general release.
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