Manchester City’s star striker Erling Haaland has confirmed his intention to play in both of Norway’s Nations League matches during the international break.
The Norwegian international team shall begin their next run of matches in the competition on Thursday when they host Slovenia before travelling to Austria on Sunday. In a post to his Instagram account on Tuesday evening, Haaland appeared to confirm that he would be open to playing both matches as he shared a graphic of himself in the Norway kit with the two upcoming fixtures either side.
While playing two matches may not seem like a big deal, manager Pep Guardiola has spoken intensively about the issues of players joining their international teams during the season. In March, Guardiola warned that while Haaland ‘was not his player for two weeks,’ that the striker should be wary of over-exerting himself in friendly matches against Czechia and Slovakia.
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Then in an interview with Match of the Day following Saturday’s 3-2 win over Fulham in the Premier League, Guardiola reiterated his concern about his squad taking part in another international break. “International break? I love it,” he told Gary Lineker.
“I would have an international break every two weeks! For the players, it’s a problem – that’s why we always defend the players.
“I’m going to rest, and after the international break – my energy is back. December, January, February, and March are terrible here, and we need energy back.
“But the players have to go, that’s why they cannot rest – and this is a problem.” When Haaland first arrived at the Etihad Stadium, City worked alongside the Norwegian national team to negate the chance of him becoming injured so that he could benefit not only City but his country too.
