Dortmund (Germany) (AFP)
"Forget Neymar! Forget Mbappé! The giant is called ERLING HAALAND (19 years old)!" The large-circulation German daily Bild sets the tone, on Wednesday, for amazed comments that salute across Europe the double of the Norwegian prodigy from Dortmund against PSG (2-1) in the Champions League.
For this round of 16 first leg, eyes were on the Neymar-Mbappé pair, reconstituted to finally bring Paris to the heights. But it was Haaland who gave the victory to his own, 2-1, with two instinctive goals in two completely different registers: a ball tackled angrily in the six meters (69th), and a powerful shot of 20 meters under the bar of Keylor Navas (77th).
"Haaland's new glory hour", headlines Kicker, the German football magazine, which also stresses that, despite his 19 years, "he is already capable of relegating actors like Kylian Mbappé and Neymar to the shadows".
In all the languages of the old continent, the feathers are lyrical to greet the birth of a star.
"For the third season of Project Paris, everything was finally in place for Neymar to become the queen of the Champions League ball. It was supposed to be his evening. But currently, few people can resist the surge Erling Braut Haaland "notes the London Guardian.
- "A player who comes from Mars" -
Spain, which has however incubated Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for a decade, does not hesitate either: "There is a new gifted in the Champions League: bow before Haaland and his titanic double", orders As, who continues: "Erling Haaland sat down at Mbappé's table and broke it in half. The fashionable boy in European football has no limits."
For the team in Paris, "the emergence of the immense talent of the immense Haaland can be frightening, with the air of a Van Basten who would have swallowed LeBron James at breakfast". And from Italy, Corriere dello Sport, saw "a player who comes from Mars", with "the power of Vieiri, the coldness of Inzaghi and the physique of Toni".
His double for the first game of his life in the eliminatory phase of the Champions League, however, does not come from space. It is even in line with an unusual season started at RB Salzburg.
Before Christmas, Haaland scored 16 goals in 14 appearances in the Austrian championship, and above all upset the statistics of the Champions League, with eight goals in group stage, a first at his age.
Since joining the Bundesliga in January, he has continued: already eight goals in five league games, before his performance against Paris!
Football experts know that the hardest part is to last for early talent. But even the coaches can't help but admire the phenomenon: "It's a beast!" Said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel after the match, "he has this physical presence, this incredible energy ..."
- Viking warrior -
With his 1.94 m, this son of the former Norwegian international Alf-Inge Haaland is a giant in the literal sense of the term, but endowed with a technique in movement and an exceptional speed for his size. Tuesday evening, Sky Italy claims to have timed it in 6.64 sec in the 60 meters, 3 / 10th of the world record (6.34) ... but with a start!
His furious races, his power in duels, his way of haranguing his teammates by gesture, in any case testifies to a warrior attitude worthy of his Viking ancestors! "He has a fantastic mentality," marvels Lucien Favre, the Dortmund coach, "in training, if he misses an opportunity he tears his hair out! Two goals against Paris is something. .. "
At Borussia, he found his place all the more easily since the locker room has several boys of his age, raw talents that the club has found around the world.
His agreement with Jadon Sancho in particular, the 19 year old English nugget with the false airs of Neymar, promises other beautiful evenings at the Jaune et Noir. But on Tuesday, the assist for his second goal came from Giovanni Reyna, an American whom Favre did not hesitate to throw into the deep end at ... just 17 years old!
ama-hap-PvE-STT-CPB / jed / Bde
© 2020 AFP