Since stepping onto the big stage less than three years ago, Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland hardly looked back.
The Norwegian international was still a teenager when he moved from Molde FK to FC Salzburg in January 2019 and scored 29 goals in 27 games for the Austrian team, including a spectacular hat trick on his Champions League debut.
He then made history by scoring 10 goals in his first seven appearances in the competition as Salzburg reached the round of 16 for the 2019-20 season, where they were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain.
🎶 It’s all just a dream…
📅 #OTD last year, teenager sensation Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick on #UCL debut ️⚽️⚽️@ErlingHaaland | #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/9ldk3oeAcZ
– UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 17, 2020
After successful apprenticeship in Shirt, Haaland moved to Dortmund in January 2020 and despite a significant step forward, the 19-year-old continues to score with unwavering consistency.
He again kick things off with a hat trick, came on from the bench in the 70th minute as Dortmund beat Augsburg 3-1 to Augsburg to almost single-handedly propel his side to a resurgent 5-3 comeback victory.
Haaland ended his first calendar year at Dortmund scoring 35 goals in 34 matches. He became the first player to score 25 goals in his first 25 games, thus breaking the record previously held by the legend. Germany striker Uwe Seeler since the 1963-64 season.
His phenomenal form in the Champions League also continues to hit the mark, with the youngster quickly becoming the fastest player to score 15 and 20 goals in the league – taking just 12 and 14 games to achieve each. respective milestones.
However, 2021 has proven to be a little more difficult for one of Europe’s next generation of superstars, setting off a string of setbacks from which he will have to overcome and withdraw. experience throughout the rest of his promising career.
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Going slow in the Bundesliga race
Firstly, Haaland must be viewed as an opponent Bayern Munich won the 2020-21 Bundesliga championship with Dortmund in third place, about 14 points behind the champions. He also saw Robert lewandowski win Torjagerkanone easily handed the title of Bundesliga’s top scorer, scoring 41 goals to surpass the 27. However, there is some consolation that Dortmund won the DFB Pokal, giving Haaland his first trophy in Germany.
Miss Euro 2020
Sadly, the European Championship had to go on in June 2021 without one of the most exciting young attacking talents in the game after Norway failed to qualify. Haaland has scored 59 goals in 57 appearances during his first two seasons at Dortmund, with many fans keen to witness his prowess at a major tournament. Unfortunately, Haaland missed a sizable portion of Norway’s qualifying campaign due to injury and failed to score throughout, even though he featured in the playoff loss first. Serbia which ultimately sealed its national destiny.
Miss World Cup
Last week, fate ensured that Haaland would also be absent from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after Norway again failed in its attempt to qualify. With their star striker sidelined with a hip injury, Stale Solbakken’s side lost 2-0 first Netherlands in their all-important final Group G qualifier – a match they really had to win to have a chance of making it to next year’s tournament. If Norway qualify for the 2024 European Championships, Haaland will be nearly 24 years old before he finally qualify for a major final.
Serious injury
Time to focus on my recovery. I will come back stronger! 🏻 pic.twitter.com/G5Ez5bohTv
– Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) October 22, 2021
Haaland is currently out of action as he faces what could be the longest injury absence of his career, a hip strain that first emerged last month. The striker’s father, Alfie Haaland, recently told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 that he would be surprised if his son returned to the first team before January: “If he gets to play a few games before Christmas. , it will be rewarded, but that’s not certain.”
Dortmund themselves have said that their striker, who has not played since October 19, is likely to be out for six to eight weeks as he continues on his recovery journey. Dortmund’s last game before the winter break in the Bundesliga took place on December 18. Haaland led the scoring charts in the Bundesliga with 9 goals in 6 games before being sidelined in Dortmund’s last 3 matches as well as those of the Bundesliga. a series of international matches.
Champions League eliminated
Dortmund really could have done with their main striker leading on Wednesday as fail 3-1 against Sports CP signaled the end of their Champions League adventure for the season. Needing at least one draw to maintain realistic hopes of reaching the knockout stages, the German side joined the Estadio Jose Alvalade to ensure that they will play in the Europa League when Haaland returns to the competition next year. after.
I lost my profile
9 – Sébastien Haller is the first player in UEFA Champions League history to score nine goals in his first five appearances in the competition. Conductor. https://t.co/ReIMTrMuQ9
– OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) November 24, 2021
On the night Dortmund were knocked out of the Champions League, bad news continued to come to Haaland after seeing one of his playing records usurped. Sebastian Haller, a total failure at West Ham United but miraculously rejuvenated at Ajax, scoring his ninth goal in his first five Champions League appearances by scoring twice in the Dutch club’s 2-1 win Besiktas. Haller’s second goal of the night witnessed Ivory Coast Haaland’s previous international best record was to score eight goals in his first five games at the tournament, which was not set long ago.
Of course, while setbacks may come fast and thick for Haaland so far this year, if the patch is as bad as it gets, he probably doesn’t have to worry. much about that. Isolated, most have been disappointing hits in an illustrious career that launched into the stratosphere with a meteoric orbit.
Hopefully, this has been a difficult period that Haaland can look back on for years to come and see it as a momentary glitch that ultimately propelled him to bigger and better things.
He may have missed the Euros, World Cups and later stages of the Champions League in relatively quick succession, but something tells us he will be fine in the long run.
