Erling Haaland has endured a meteoric rise so far. With his exceptional talent, he never fell short of captivating the soccer world. Although his achievements on the domestic front speak for themselves, the striker has yet to win significant trophies on the international front, with fingers raised over failing to win with Norway. However, in an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, Jan Aage Fjortoft stepped forward to defend Haaland, asserting it is ‘hard to qualify alone.’

The legendary Norwegian striker debunked the conspiracy theory surrounding the Manchester City star for not delivering for Norway. Aside from backing Haaland as the best player in the world, Fjortoft stated, “It’s also hard to qualify alone. There are a lot of advantages to being a Norwegian player. One of the disadvantages is that you won’t play in a lot of tournaments.”

While highlighting Norway’s 23-year exile from international tournaments, the former Barnsley man acknowledged the privilege of playing in the 1994 World Cup for Norway. Fjortoft then came to the conundrum with his nation’s national team.  

While heaping praise over Landslaget’s key figures like Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, he also shed light on the team’s younger potential, like Club Brugge’s Antonio Nusa and Manchester City’s Oscar Bobb. However, despite having such big names, Fjortoft indicated the biggest catch; these aforementioned names all possess offensive gameplay and like to go forward. Fjortoft detailed his opinions on the issue. 

“We lack balance in the team and we are struggling to come up with defenders. We are the victim of talent that we have created in Norway,” concluded Fjortoft in an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports.

Indeed, quite an interesting take from Fjortoft. Let’s hope it changes for Norway; otherwise, Haaland might be forced to accept the inevitable!

Erling Haaland advised to ‘get used’ to Norway’s poor results

Earlier, Norway endured a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Spain in the Euro qualifier. It crushed the Norwegian’s dreams to participate in the 2024 Euros in Germany. Following the scoreline, soccer analyst Craig Burley made an astonishing claim on ESPN, stating, “Erling Haaland has to get used to this type of results. He cannot now change countries.”

READ MORE: “It Was Right” – Jan Aage Fjortoft Defends Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United Exit & Predicts 1000 Goal Haul [Exclusive]

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Coincidentally, Jan Aage Fjortoft was also prevalent on the panel during the discussion about Norway’s Euro failure. He echoed similar concerns, which he had recently highlighted in an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports. Fjortoft called for his side to improve defensively and strive to find a perfect balance to achieve success.

Either way, these claims indicate that Erling Haaland cannot be solely responsible for Norway’s success. Likewise, this doesn’t dismiss the fact that the future looks promising for the national team. Let’s hope that Haaland and his teammates can bounce back from their Euro 2024 disappointment.