Norway had several chances of qualifying for the Euros but they never lived up to their expectations. Haaland is the best striker in the world and Odegaard is a top midfielder and captain, for both the national team and one of the best teams in the Premier League. Norway is still managing to feed Haaland, with an insane 27 goals. What gives, terrible tactics or synergy issues?
Because Norway spotted his talent and snapped him up before he was even on England’s radar.
He’s been in the Norway youth system since before he even started playing at striker. He started out at a 2nd tier team in Norway so was never actually expected to develop into a world class player who would have a chance at playing for England. It wasn’t even a guarantee he would become a professional footballer at that point as he was setting junior age bracket records in Long Jump You can hardly blame him aged 14 for opting to play for Norway when their U15s team called him up.