"Haaland is very sad, he wanted to play against Spain"

Erling Haaland will not be at La Rosaleda on Saturday. The Norwegian Football Association informed on Tuesday about the last-minute absence of their star player for the Nordic team's European Championship qualifiers against Spain and Georgia.

His father Alf-Inge made public his son's frustration in a statement to 'TV2 Sport': "He is very sad, he wanted to play. The injury has taken us all by surprise.

"Erling called me worried, because they found something wrong in some preliminary tests," he said. "He would have liked to have been on the pitch against Spain and Georgia, he is really sad," he added.

Finally, Alf-Inge Haaland said that while he regrets the injury, his son "must prioritise his health" and do everything possible to get "his body back to health" as soon as possible.