Erling Braut Haaland will not only miss the Champions League match between Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, but also the international match between the Netherlands and Norway on Tuesday 16 November. The striker is struggling with a hip injury and needs three to four weeks to recover, says Norwegian national doctor Ola Sand. TV2.
Haaland was left with the injury after the lost match against Ajax (4-0) on Tuesday evening. “I have spoken to both Dortmund and Erling. The conclusion is that he will not be there during the next international match,” Sand reports. “He needs time to recover from his injury. It is at least three to four weeks, maybe longer. It is annoying. Haaland would like to contribute to be active at the World Cup.” Dortmund coach Marco Rose spoke of an absence of ‘a few weeks’ earlier on Friday.
The superstar of Norway misses the World Cup qualifiers with Latvia (Saturday 13 November) and the the Dutch. These are Norway’s last two games in Group G of the qualifying cycle. Group win, and thus direct qualification for the final round, may be at stake in the match against the Netherlands in De Kuip. Currently, Norway is two points behind the the Dutch. The number two must qualify for the World Cup in Qatar via play-offs.
“It is a big blow to the national team,” Norwegian former footballer Jesper Mathisen, who works as an analyst for TV2. “Haaland is our best and most important player. He is the player who really instills fear in an opponent. Nobody can frighten the Netherlands like Haaland does. We already saw that in the home game, when Virgil van Dijk and the other defenders had a very difficult time with him. A very difficult game is now even more difficult. It is bad news for national coach Ståle Solbakken, this is the last thing he wanted.”
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