«And wait, Carlo Ancelotti, we are coming for you.» This was Ståle Solbakken’s end of the speech to his own players in the dressing room after the victory against the Ivory Coast. This was met with wild cheers from the Norwegian players, and we could hear from the atmosphere that Norway goes into this match with full faith that Brazil’s history as a football nation will not save them from defeat on Sunday. We understand that the Brazilians have also been intimidated by the Norwegian game, and not least the Viking monster at the top, but Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t quite understand the question, whether he has a plan to neutralize Haaland.
We have seen Erling Haaland frustrated in a Manchester City shirt several times, but it is in the meetings against Real Madrid, with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, that the Norwegian international got the worst possible working conditions. By then, Ancelotti had put centre-back Antonio Rüdiger on the task of using all means (without getting a red card) to deny Haaland a goal). So before Norway’s match against Brazil, it is not surprising that Mr. Ancelotti is asked about the plan to stop Haaland in the World Cup.
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“I don’t think there is such a thing as an ‘anti-Haaland’ plan. I don’t have to tell my players how to defend themselves; they’ve faced each other a couple of times in other games,” Ancelotti said, according to Sky Sports.
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Then we’ll see if the Italian fox has given any of the Brazilian defenders the “role of Rüdiger” to deny the world’s best striker a goal against Brazil.
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