The biggest reason, almost literally, to cheer for Norway is Haaland, their 6-foot-5-inch scoring machine.
By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe
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FOXBOROUGH — Perhaps it’s a question you could have answered before New England’s portion of the FIFA men’s World Cup officially commenced here Saturday night.
Perhaps it’s a question you could have answered long ago, way back when a certain team or player captured your attention and heart, and unassailable rooting interests formed.
But after Norway’s entertaining 4-1 victory over Iraq Tuesday night in the second match played at The Venue Temporarily Known As Boston Stadium, it’s a question that raced to mind with the speed and force of Norway superstar Erling Haaland closing in on goal:
Who ya got?
Now, in the entire shebang of the World Cup, it’s presumed the majority of us are rooting for the United States, who opened the tournament with their own highly encouraging 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday in Los Angeles.
Personally, I’m dreading Fox analyst Alexi Lalas’s trademark smug jingoistic routine if the Americans make a deep run, but that’s a tradeoff we’d have to accept, I suppose.
My question is more regional and specific to the current moment: Who is the team you are rooting for among the Foxborough field?
Scotland, and its Tartan Army that has taken over Boston in all the right and most amusing ways, has a head start on winning over the locals. France has the breathtaking Kylian Mbappé and is a favorite to win the whole thing, and their bandwagon has few empty seats.
But if you’re, say, a lapsed or casual soccer fan still searching for a team to adopt over the next few weeks … well, Norway made one compelling case Tuesday night.
They actually did so before arriving stateside when they posed for their team photo in Viking regalia. It was easily the greatest team photo taken in any sport since baseball’s Padres annually took theirs at the San Diego Zoo in the late ‘70s.
Their “Viking row” cheer, in which their fans roar and giddily mime rowing a ship, is inspired, and their fans will break it out just about anytime and anywhere, including when the mood strikes on the escalator at South Station.
But the biggest reason, almost literally, to cheer for Norway is Haaland, their 6-foot-5-inch scoring machine who is surrounded by several similarly sized Norse horses on a tough, skilled, and fun-to-watch club.
Haaland, who led the Premier League with 27 goals for Manchester City this season and scored 16 in Norway’s eight qualifying matches, started his valid quest for the Golden Boot with two goals against a feisty Iraq team.
Playing in his first World Cup match in Norway’s first men’s appearance since 1998, Haaland just missed on a couple of early chances. At the 7-minute mark, Haaland chased down a through-ball and tried to feed Fredrik Aursnes in front, but Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan corralled the cross. Thirteen minutes later, Haaland, left unmarked, sent a header over the net and into the stands.
The match was scoreless when the first hydration break/commercial cash-grab hit. During the break, the public address system blasted Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer,” an aural staple at Patriots games.
The song was a welcome reminder that a New England sports fan can’t really come to this stadium without being reminded of all of the extraordinary players and games that have occurred here . . . once upon a time, not so long ago, as the song goes.
Haaland might look like he’s auditioning to be a Hemsworth brother, but he’s kind of a Norse Gronkowski, as he demonstrated with some good-time antics while on camera at a recent Carolina Hurricanes game.
Not long after coming out of the break, presumably properly hydrated, his Gronk-like physical prowess was finally rewarded with the first goal of the match. Haaland crashed the net, arriving in perfect sync with David Møller Wolfe’s perfect cross to punch in the game’s first goal in the 29th minute. Much Viking rowing commenced in the stadium stands.
After Iraq captain Aymen Hussein tied the score with a nifty header in the 39th minute, Haaland gave Norway the lead again, and for good, when he swarmed an ill-advised back pass to Iraq’s keeper.
The second half brought two more Norway goals, and much delight to the countless fans in the stands wearing Haaland’s Norway and Man City jerseys.
It was a scene reminiscent of the more familiar celebrations in this stadium, by fans in those Brady, Maye, Gronk, and Moss jerseys, among many more, over the seasons.
Norway’s next match is versus Senegal in New Jersey on June 22. It returns to Foxborough to face Mbappé and France on June 26.
Norway felt like the home team on Tuesday night — and even felt a lot like the usual home team, and not the Revolution. Somehow, the one that plays a different kind of football.
