Haaland, redeemer of a nation after a year of royal scandal | OneFootball

Norway has rallied around Erling Haaland after Brazil were dumped out in the last 16, with Harry Kane’s England next in the quarter-finals. He has seven World Cup goals, one fewer than Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, so the top-scorer race remains open.

El Periódico Mediterráneo reports that the Royal House published a photo of Princess Mette-Marit in a Norway scarf beside her husband, Haakon.

The princess has endured a torrid year, from the release of emails she exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein to uncomfortable links touching senior diplomacy, the Nobel Committee and the Labour party of prime minister Jonas Gar Store.

Her eldest son, Marius Borg Høiby, was tried and later jailed for four years for two rapes and 32 other offences. Diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, the 52-year-old underwent surgery on 17 June, two days after his conviction. That photo was her first public image since.

Online, Haaland has become meme fodder, from Vinícius mash-ups to images of his friendship with Jude Bellingham, forged at Borussia Dortmund.

Off the pitch he keeps a low profile with partner Isabel Haugseng Johansen and honours his mother, heptathlete Gry Marita Braut, by carrying her surname on his shirt.

His Viking Row celebration has become a national emblem, copied from parliament to Oslo’s streets. Norway’s 25-year-old talisman embraced Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 21, in the dressing room, while her parents watched from the Royal Palace. Requests for Marius’s release have so far been rejected.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo