Erling Braut Haaland thought to have given Virgil van Dijk a broken finger during the game between Norway and the Netherlands (1-1). The 21-year-old striker tells after the meeting in conversation with TV2 that the captain of the Dutch to him and said that he thought he had broken his finger during a duel between the two. Bas Ticheler, press secretary of the Dutch, says at the press conference that Van Dijk’s finger is not broken, but came out of the socket.
After a duel with Haaland, Van Dijk had to step aside early in the second half with a problem on his finger. The defender briefly disappeared inside with the medical staff and then returned to the field, with tape around his finger. “I think I broke Van Dijk’s finger,” says Haaland. “He came to me and said, ‘f*cking hell“I think you broke my finger.” I have no idea how that happened.”
20 ‘GOAL Norway Haaland is left alone and Van Dijk’s tackle is too late. It’s 1-0.#nooned pic.twitter.com/nS97bcfL0o
— NOS Football (@NOS Football) September 1, 2021
Haaland opened the scoring in Oslo after twenty minutes of play. “I was a bit surprised that there was no one around me,” said the striker. Because Cody Gakpo made a slow approach, the offside trap did not work and Van Dijk was unable to prevent a goal from Haaland with a tackle. “We played against one of the best national teams in the world and I think we were able to compete well. We had a plan and we executed it well. I am quite proud of this result, even if it is not a victory.”
“Erling was probably the best on the field. We will see him this week in, week out,” said Norwegian national coach Stale Solbakken in conversation with TV2. “The Netherlands is a team that is very, very good on the ball. You have the feeling that they can always strike. We also had our chances and the boys have had a good feeling about this game because we didn’t just have to defend.”