Erling Haaland has left the Norway training camp and pulled out of their upcoming International fixtures due to a groin injury, and Twitter hasn’t held back!
Norway have 2 upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers away to Spain and Georgia, which Haaland will now miss. It is claimed that he picked up the injury in Man City’s 6-0 victory over Burnley at the weekend, in which he contributed a hat-trick.
FA Norway have released a statement on the matter. It reads “Erling Braut Haaland had some pain in his groin after the match against Burnley. We hoped that this was just a famialiarity that would carry over to Saturday, but after doing tests and examinations yesterday it became clear that he will not make it to the games against Spain and Georgia. It is better that he receives medical follow-up ay the club”.
The National side went on to say that Haaland was disappointed to be missing out on his International duties, although Twitter users are a bit more sceptical!
Many fans took no time at all in voicing their opinions online that Haaland’s “injury” may actually be a tactical decision from chiefs at Man City to keep him fresh for the final stages of their Premier League campaign.
Players when it's time for international duties: pic.twitter.com/jFXgUo3mje
— WCity (@NiceCream146) March 21, 2023
At this point, nobody wants to play for their international team. Let's be honest he's not injured neither is Rashford or De Jong.
— Simon teame (@simon_teame) March 21, 2023
There seemed to be a running theme in many of the comments that City may have asked Haaland to return to Manchester to rest himself for the final 9 games of the season. With an 8 point gap between them and title leaders Arsenal, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club look to preserve the energy levels of their top scorer.
But the way star players are getting sick before they even reach their national team camps is alarming. Started to believe some of these injuries are planned by their parent clubs🌚
— Nino🇺🇬⚽ (@Nino_Murungi) March 21, 2023
"Groin Injury" pic.twitter.com/QiYWaciLWj
— M Rashy 🔴⚽️ (@UTD_Merchant) March 21, 2023
Guardiola’s men are still also in the race for the Champions League trophy and the FA Cup – making Haaland’s ridiculous goal-scoring ability even more precious as we head into the final few months of the season.
it remains to be seen how legitimate or severe Haaland’s groin injury actually is, but it could spell trouble for both City and Norway if he isn’t back to full fitness in the coming weeks.
