Erling Haaland revealed Italy defender Gianluca Mancini sparked an explosive on-pitch row by repeatedly touching him during Norway’s 4-1 World Cup qualifying win, an action Haaland claims motivated him to score two goals and secure his nation’s first World Cup spot since 1998.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has revealed the unusual reason behind an explosive on-pitch spat with Italy defender Gianluca Mancini that saw him restrained by teammate Gianluigi Donnarumma during their World Cup qualifying match.
According to a report from the Manchester Evening News, the incident occurred during Norway’s stunning 4-1 victory over the Azzurri at the San Siro on Sunday night.
Haaland, who was locked in a running battle with Mancini throughout the crucial Group I fixture, claimed the Italy defender gave him the extra motivation he needed to fire Norway to victory.
Speaking in the mixed zone after the match, Haaland revealed the details of the confrontation:
“I want to thank Mancini for motivating me. At 1-1, he started to touch me on the a*, and I thought ‘what are you doing?’. So I perked up a bit and said to him ‘thank you for the motivation, let’s f****g have it’.”
The forward added, “So I scored two goals, we win 4-1. Many thanks to him!”
Haaland went on to score twice within two minutes in the second half to seal the comprehensive victory. The goals helped Norway complete a flawless qualifying campaign, triumphing in all eight games and booking their first World Cup berth since 1998.
The striker’s brace took his tally for the qualifiers to a staggering 16 goals in 8 qualifying games for Norway. Overall this season, he now has 32 GOALS in 19 games for club and country.
The win was wrapped up by Wolves forward Jorgen Strand Larsen, who scored the fourth goal in the 93rd minute.