Erling Haaland (Image: PA)
Erling Haaland (Image: PA)
WALES boss Craig Bellamy believes Erling Haaland will not be distracted by the bombshell verdict which found Manchester City guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules.
City’s Norway striker Haaland plays for the first time in Cardiff since an independent commission found City guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
Haaland has scored three times in Nations League games against Denmark and Portugal in the past week, taking his incredible Norway record to 65 goals in 57 appearances.
Asked if the guilty verdict could affect Haaland in their Nations League meeting, Bellamy, a City player himself between 2009 and 2011 who declined to comment on the commission’s findings, said: “I don’t think he’d be distracted. The guy’s a machine.
“You see his record at international level. He just wants to score. That isn’t stopping.
“If you love football, you have to appreciate him. There are loads of ways to deal with him, but it’s difficult to pinpoint a certain one because it’s very rare you have a player who is this size and has his mobility.
“In other sports (rugby union) we had the Jonah Lomu factor. We’re coming through the Haaland factor at this present moment.
“What always remains is that he’s always alive. Once that ball comes into the box, he’s always alive.
“He lives for certain moments, which is really nice, but really hard to handle as well.”
Wales are bottom and without a point in Group A4 after away defeats in Portugal and Denmark.
David Brooks will miss both the Norway game and Denmark’s visit on Sunday through injury.
Wales Under-21s lost 1-0 in Belgium and had defender Dan Cox sent off in their penultimate European Championship qualifier in Westerlo.
Norman Bassette fired Belgium into a seventh-minute lead, steering Romeo Vermant’s pass into the bottom corner from the edge of the six-yard box.