Van Dijk ‘walked away angry’ after Haaland mastery, reveals Fjortoft

Erling Haaland’s rise to the summit of world football was seemingly written in the stars long before he became one of the game’s most feared strikers, and a story involving Virgil van Dijk has resurfaced to prove just how early that talent was obvious. The Norwegian, now 25, leads his country’s line against Brazil in Sunday’s World Cup last-16 tie, aiming to send the Scandinavians into the quarter-finals for only the third time in their history and the first since 1998.

Haaland has already netted five goals at this, his first World Cup, and Brazil’s rearguard will be well aware of the threat he poses. It is a challenge that even Van Dijk struggled to contain when the two first crossed paths, back when Haaland was starring for RB Salzburg.

The night at Anfield

The Austrian side travelled to Liverpool for a Champions League group fixture in 2019 and found themselves 3-0 down inside 36 minutes. Salzburg looked destined for a heavy defeat but staged a remarkable fightback, with goals from Hwang Hee-chan, former Reds forward Takumi Minamino and Haaland himself levelling the score at 3-3 with more than half an hour still to play.

Liverpool eventually won the match 4-3 courtesy of a Mohamed Salah winner, but according to former Norway striker Jan Aage Fjortoft, the result did little to ease Van Dijk’s frustration once the final whistle blew.

Fjortoft’s account of the interview

Speaking on the Blood Red podcast in 2020, Fjortoft described the reaction he received when he pressed Van Dijk on Haaland’s display that night. “The first time I saw him (Haaland) live was at Anfield when he came on and I was amazed that this young kid created so much space,” he said.

“He scored one goal but he could have had three or four – he was unbelievable. I was amazed how he created space and how I define that is how his runs are wise and experienced,” Fjortoft added.

He continued: “After the game, I interviewed Van Dijk, who I always like to interview because he is a gentleman, and I said, ‘I have to ask you about the Norwegian, Erling Haaland.’ And he just said, ‘Well, we won the game.’ So I said, ‘Yes, but what do you think about him?’ Van Dijk said, ‘I didn’t see a lot of him,’ and he was a bit angry because there was some mistakes done.”

“And I said, ‘It’s a good sign for a striker when a defender says he didn’t see him!’ – and then he just went away, Van Dijk,” Fjortoft recalled.

Contrasting World Cup fortunes

While Haaland has driven Norway’s charge through the tournament in North America, Van Dijk’s Netherlands endured a rockier route. They were held to a 2-2 draw by Japan in their opener, a game in which Van Dijk himself scored, before backing that up with a 5-1 win over Sweden and a 3-1 victory against Tunisia.

Topping their group did not bring an easy last-16 draw, though, as the Dutch were paired with Morocco, who had finished runners-up behind Brazil in their section. The Netherlands were eliminated on penalties, bringing Van Dijk’s World Cup to an early close while Haaland now has the chance to write his own piece of Norwegian football history against Brazil.

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