The 38-year-old has evolved throughout his career. From being a typical winger who looked to dribble and cut inside from the left he gradually transformed his game into a prolific goalscorer who is dangerous with both feet and his head. Haaland has grown to become one of the most lethal goalscorers of modern times and the Norwegian admitted that he used to closely follow Ronaldo in his formative years to learn the tricks of the trade.
Haaland used to struggle scoring with his head and netted once every 11 times in his first 182 goals for club and country. In recent years, the ratio significantly improved to one in four and the Norwegian credited his enhanced heading ability to learn from Ronaldo. While admitting that Ronaldo has been his “main” inspiration he added: “I remember always watching him on YouTube for his movements in the box: He used to make two or three moves before attacking the space he wanted to be in. It’s kind of a duel in that situation with the center-backs. It is important to time it perfectly. And the post must be good. If you don’t get a good cross, you won’t be able to score with your head.”
Haaland also revealed that he watched Ronaldo’s movement inside the box and hailed his switch from a wide player to a striker. Speaking to TV2, the young forward said: “How Cristiano moves, and how he has managed to develop his game. You remember when he played in Manchester United and the first years in Real Madrid, to become more of a striker in Real Madrid. It is incredible for him that he manages. But also how he scores the goals. It is the small movements in the box, and being able to deceive the defenders”
Haaland and Ronaldo, both prolific in 2023, have collectively scored over 40 goals for club and country. Haaland is the leading scorer in 2023 with 50 goals to his name while Ronaldo has 46 strikes for club and country. Notably, 36 of these goals came for Al-Nassr, and was recently on target for Portugal as well against Liechtenstein.