Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer. The striker was born on the 21st of July 2000 in Leeds, United Kingdom.
Haaland comes from a sporting family. His father, Alf-Inge Haaland was a defender who played for Manchester City and Leeds United during his active days on the pitch, while his mother was a national champion in heptathlon.
Haaland started his career at his hometown club Bryne in 2016, and moved to Molde the next year where he spent two years.
In January 2019, Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg signed him on a five-year contract where he became a blooming light and after several debates on where to go next, he moved on to the German league to join Borussia Dortmund in January 2020 for €20m.
He is recognized for his explosive acceleration and pace, athleticism, strength and precise off the ball movement.
This teenager burst onto the scene after scoring 9 goals in a single match for Norway during the 2019 U-20 FIFA World Cup against Honduras with the match ending 12-nil.
Since the start of that U-20 World Cup, Haaland has played in 40 games for club and country amassing a total of 50 goals so far.
He maintained better than a goal per game ratio - he had 28 goals in 22 appearances for Salzburg, and he has scored 13 goals in 13 games for Dortmund.
A Spanish magazine recently put him on the cover as "CYBORGOL" - a half-human, half robot soccer machine - because he plays like a force of nature.
In the Bundesliga, Haaland has scored 48% of his shots with no other player in the division having scored more than 40%.
He is third in the Bundesliga in percentage of shots on goal, one of just 4 players to put more than 60% of their shots on target.
Haaland's father scored only 18 goals throughout his entire English career with Man City, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, while Haaland has scored 10 UEFA Champions League goals in his debut season (8 goals for Salzburg and 2 goals for Dortmund).
Is there anyone who can stop him from scoring goals?
Fabiyi Ridwan
Sports Writer and Analyst
