When Haaland took the stage

The Under-20 World Cup can be followed as if it were a big game at the casino, on the table many possible bets, promising odds and cards that already look like they could win the hand. Following the talents on the field, it is nice to be able to imagine that Italy full-back, Argentina midfielder or Norway striker are the next stars of world football, and then try to bet a chip. In the history of the competition there have been players who have lived up to expectations, in some cases the Under-20 World Cup was the moment when future stars were introduced to the world, as in the case of Haaland, who on 30 May four years ago scored 9(!) goals in one match, already anticipating what we would see in the following years. Four years ago Haaland was born, only two weeks after his first game as a starter with Salzburg and several dozen goals before his last title win with Manchester City, dominating the Premier League as if he were an ordinary Honduran U-20 national team.

The last match in Group C of last year's Under-20 World Cup had no influence on the group, with Uruguay and New Zealand already qualified for the Round of 16. The Norwegian team had scored just one goal in two matches, and although they had eliminated defending champions England in the qualifying play-off, the tournament did not seem to have provided much in the way of news, other than the confirmation of a team with good talent, especially in attack. In the 7th minute the monologue presentation of what four years ago was just the son of the former Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City player began, and it already displayed many of those characteristics essential now to describe Erling Braut Haaland.

The first goal is a number 9 par excellence, with the outfielder (former AC Milan player Jens Petter Hauge) putting in a strong ball that Haaland kicks into the goal from the center of the box. The second goal shows other characteristics of Haaland, who starts from the offside line, controls the ball with his somewhat haphazard manner and then shoots with Viking strength under the legs of the Honduras goalkeeper. With the same force not typical of a 19-year-old he also kicks under the crossbar in the fourth goal, after a penalty kicked instead with delicacy by opening the plate. The fifth goal came from the same position as the second, with the left footer this time being precise at the second post, showing how Haaland's ability to finalize is already unpredictable, becoming a continuous brain strain for the opponents. With the right, after a strange coordination, comes the sixth goal, a body movement that twists almost as much as the technical gesture of the seventh goal of the day. Soft and lightning-fast enough to take the time away from the goalkeeper, who does not expect that athletic responsiveness. The last two goals are a representation of Haaland's strength, passing between bodies with the speed of a sports car and the strength of a crawler.

Haaland's performance first became a statistical oddity, an uncommon performance for top-level football, and thus ended up negatively qualifying the match (finished 12-0) between Norway and Honduras. Somebody, however, put their chips on Haaland, who meanwhile started the following year with a hat-trick in his first Champions League game, which was to be followed by many more goals, more and more similar to the first 9 with which he had presented himself to world football. The instincts of a first striker, the power and the feeling of a lack of coordination always finds its moment of effectiveness. Haaland became dominant first with Salzburg, then with Borussia Dortmund and finally with Manchester City, his movements and rabid running with a hunched back and wide arms remaining the same as seen at that Under-20 World Cup.