Erling Haaland, the striker for Manchester City, along with Norway’s national team coach Stale Solbakken, took it upon themselves to issue an apology to their Swiss counterparts following a friendly match on Tuesday night, which ended in a goalless draw marred by the abysmal state of the pitch.
On the eve of the match, Swiss coach Murat Yakin had already raised concerns about the playing surface, describing it as riddled with “holes everywhere” after enduring a Norwegian winter.
Yakin highlighted the poor condition of the turf at Ullevaal Stadion and its potential impact on the team’s playing style. A report from Swiss broadcaster SRF on Tuesday night suggested that the surface could barely be classified as “grass”.
Following the match, Haaland felt it was necessary to apologise for the conditions. “The pitch was simply unacceptable,” he told NRK.no. “The last time I played on a surface like this was a few years back in the Faroe Islands, and even that wasn’t as bad.”
“The game wasn’t ruined, but it was close. Switzerland, with all due respect, tries to play, but you could see them making errors they wouldn’t usually commit if the pitch were in better shape. So, in a way, it benefited us that the conditions weren’t great, allowing us to take advantage. However, it’s simply not good enough. I expressed my apologies to everyone, but this is far from acceptable.”
Solbakken acknowledged that he had already conveyed his apologies to Murat Yakin on Monday prior to the match.
Compiled by SportArena.au
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