"It helps to hide the hair, to be honest." That was Erling Haaland's explanation for going completely unnoticed in Times Square — one of the busiest, most tourist-saturated squares on the planet — while on a World Cup break with his partner Isabel Haugseng Johansen.
A light baseball cap. Dark sunglasses. That's all it took to make the most physically imposing striker in world football effectively invisible to New Yorkers. He posted the pictures himself on Snapchat — Times Square, Katz's Deli, the whole tourist circuit — and the reactions ranged from amused to disbelieving.
What he did to earn the break
Norway hadn't played a World Cup game in 28 years before their opener in Boston. Haaland responded to that occasion by scoring twice in a 4-1 demolition of Iraq. Calm, then.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken rewarded his squad with a few days off ahead of their Group I match against Senegal on June 22 at the New York/New Jersey Stadium. Senegal come into that game having already lost 3-1 to France, which makes them a wounded side — dangerous in patches, but short on confidence and now needing a result.
"Everyone needs a little break. The guys benefit from clearing their minds a little, and getting away from me and others," Solbakken said. Hard to argue. Norway look like the fresher, more settled outfit going into that fixture, and Haaland's form puts them as the side to back in Group I.
Two goals in one World Cup game, then a stroll through Manhattan unbothered. Not a bad week.
