Erling Haaland is being slammed in the Norwegian press for a lack of humility after failing to fulfil his duties as captain in Martin Odegaard’s absence.
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s recent match against Manchester City, City striker Erling Haaland made some headlines after he was caught on camera telling Gunners boss Mikel Arteta to “stay humble”.
Yet this Monday morning, Haaland is getting a taste of his own medicine as the Norwegian press accuse him of lacking humility after his country’s 5-1 defeat to Austria.
In Martin Odegaard’s absence, Haaland has worn the captain’s armband over the current international break, yet he chose not to fulfil his duties with the media after Sunday’s game against Austria.
It was a poor night for the striker, who completed just 59% of his 17 passes and saw all three of his shots fail to hit the target. To make matters worse, he watched on as Austria put five goals past his team.
Yet it was still a surprise to see Haaland refuse to speak to the press after the game, a standard task for a national team captain.
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Kristoffer Lokberg told Norwegian outlet VG: “When you have the captain’s armband for the Norwegian national team, you should stand up and say a few words.
“It’s a shame. If there’s anyone we want to hear from after a violent slump, it’s the captain.
“How was it communicated out here? How do you think after the 3-1 goal? Do you gather? What do you do? When you are captain, you have been assigned a role that requires a little extra.”
On social media, the striker was a little more talkative, writing on his Instagram story: “Sorry everyone, this was far too bad on my part. In November, we go for six points.”
Haaland was then in front of the media the following morning as he arrived at the airport to travel to England, with a VG journalist asking: “Would you like to say something about what you experienced yesterday, Erling?”
“No,” Haaland responded, before ignoring two further questions about why he was remaining silent and whether he should take responsibility as captain.
Without a social media manager to help him write an apology, ‘humble’ Haaland clearly wasn’t interested in giving it a go alone.
The hope from a Norwegian standpoint will be that their real captain is back fit for the November internationals.