November 18, (THEWILL) – Norway manager Ståle Solbakken has played down fears over the seriousness of Erling Haaland’s ankle injury, despite the striker being ruled out of their Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland on Sunday.
Solbakken confirmed Haaland will miss the Hampden Park clash after picking up the injury during Norway’s 2-0 friendly win over Faroe Islands on Thursday. However, he insisted “it’s not a serious injury” and was confident over the Manchester City star’s condition.
“It’s the movement in his foot that is the problem but it’s not a serious injury. Had it been a final, I don’t know (if he would have been fit to play),” said Solbakken on Saturday.
Haaland has been crucial to Norway’s qualification hopes and his absence in attack will significantly impact their chances against a Scotland side already guaranteed Euro 2024 qualification.
Solbakken rued Scotland’s 2-1 comeback victory over Norway in June, which denied his side the chance to make Sunday’s match a qualification decider. But he feels Norway can still qualify via the playoffs and draw inspiration from Scotland’s own return to major tournaments.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
