Once again, the Norwegian team of Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard could not participate at a major football festival. Now, the Premier League star duo can focus all their attention on the club front.
The feelings of Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland are definitely opposite after the EURO 2024 qualifying match this November ended. One side is regretting not being able to be the savior for the national team. The other side is quite reassured because an important star in the Man City squad will be resting.
During the friendly match against the Faroe Islands, Haaland hurt his ankle. The Norwegian team’s coaching staff later confirmed that this star will not participate in the away match against Scotland in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. The Norwegian team’s medical team also emphasized that if they risk using Haaland in the match, fighting in Glasgow, the consequences will be very unpredictable. In fact, this is also a procedural match in Group A because Spain and Scotland have continued and Norway officially stopped the game.
Norway has been waiting since 2000 to participate in a major team-level tournament (World Cup and EURO). Haaland and Odegaard were expected to be the stars of a generation, but in the end they could not make the spring. A few months ago, when asked if he had to choose between winning the Champions League with Man City and winning the World Cup with the Norwegian team, Haaland said winning some glory with the national team is as difficult as a spy mission. impossible.
Returning to Pep Guardiola’s “joy”, he will have more time for Haaland to rest and recuperate. Not only because the Norwegian team’s current qualifying campaign has ended, if Haaland does not attend EURO 2024, he will have another month next summer to freely rest and relax.
This season, Man City still maintains the goal of winning the treble, so they must exert their efforts on all fronts. After constantly working hard last season, Haaland will continue to stretch himself this season. That’s not positive even for a player with very good physical and physical condition.
When recalling the time he welcomed Haaland to Etihad, Pep Guardiola also felt quite panicked. At that time, the 23-year-old striker only had 3 weeks off from leaving Dortmund until his first match in his new shirt.
While Haaland was gathering with the national team, Pep Guardiola sent a medical staff to accompany him to closely monitor the Norwegian striker’s health. The report sent to Etihad shows that Haaland is not too seriously injured, just needs a short rest and will return to normal. This time, Pep was truly relieved.