Erling Haaland has apologized for Norway’s 5-1 defeat to Austria in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday, describing the performance as “very bad”.
Haaland was captain of the Norwegian national team in the absence of Martin Odegaard, who suffered an ankle injury during the international break last month.
Ståle Solbakken looked to continue their unbeaten start in the Nations League, but Austrian Marko Arnautovic scored twice, while Philipp Lenhart, Stefan Bosch and Michael Gregoritsch also found the net to add to Haaland and Norway’s woes in Linz, Austria.
Alexander Sorloth’s 39th-minute goal proved to be little more than a consolation for the Scandinavian side, and Haaland took to Instagram to apologise.
“Sorry everyone, this was very bad on my part,” he said.
“In November, we will be aiming for six points.”
The Manchester City striker was also criticized after refusing to answer any questions from the Norwegian press after the match.
However, the stand-in captain had the support of teammate Sander Berge after their heaviest defeat since 2017.
“He has every right to do that,” the Fulham midfielder said.
“You can be disappointed now. We are a team, we have ups and downs regardless. The most important thing is that we are united.”
