Norway boss Stale Solbakken has tipped Erling Haaland to shake off his hangover and get steamed into Scotland.
In a forecast that looks ominous for Steve Clarke’s side, Solbakken revealed he has a “good feeling” about the goal machine – despite him being on a three-day bender since lifting the Champions League on Saturday night. Haaland was given extra time off after helping Manchester City see off Inter to become European champions on Saturday annd he made the most of it.
Haaland finally joined up with the squad on Tuesday and did some lighter training yesterday. He will be thrown into full training today ahead of Saturday’s vital Euro 2024 qualifying clash in the Ullevaal Stadium. Solbakken said: “Me and Brede (Hangeland) had a very good talk with him yesterday - half an hour’s quiet talk, where we went through all the parties. We made the plan in relation to how he feels, so we landed in a good place. He seems healthy both in his head and legs, so it will go well. I have a good feeling that it will go well.”
They took it slowly with the City star. He did some of the work on Wednesday but he will play in a full-sized internal game on Thursday as Solkbakken fine-tunes his side for the weekend. He confirmed: “He seems good, but of course he hasn’t been in physical activity, so when the muscle mass and all that is going to explode. Wednesday was a calm start, where he is with the boys and gets some training with the ball, but not at a wild pace.”
Haaland and many of City’s international stars had been in party central after sealing their glory treble but Solbakken doesn’t think his star man will have any hangover when it comes to national service. He joked: “After what he has been involved in, he seems okay.
“He socialised with the boys, he had a meeting with me and Brede. He sat and watched a very average table tennis match between Strandberg, Ostigard and Berge, Odegaard. He didn’t fall asleep from it, so he can’t be completely gone.”
Norway have one point from their opening two games and know they must take something against the Scots to keep their qualification hopes alive.
