Norway's Erling Haaland, class act

www.americanthinker.com

With the U.S. out of the World Cup tournament, many Americans, myself included, found myself cheering Norway, specifically because of its massive, Viking-like striker, Erling Haaland. 

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Haaland, like most of his team, was indigenous to Norway. That was something different, given the internationalization of most of the best teams, take it or leave it.

But in the affirmative-action era, we don't see a lot of big blonde Vikings in popular culture, either, so there was some fascination with the novelty, all the more so because this was in sports, which is the strictest meritocracy and image isn't important. After all, no one cares what a good player's color is, we like players who score goals (Haaland scored seven in this World Cup) and who deliver victories. Still, the image fascinated, particularly since not only did Haaland look the role, he seemed to live something of the Viking lifestyle, so lots of humorous Viking memes appeared in the run-up to Norway's big appearance in the quarterfinals against England, which was Norway's best showing in decades.

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But with Norway dispatched by England in the World Cup, based on, what I think was a bad call from the referees, and a teammate who, for whatever reason, (perhaps benign, or perhaps out of jealousy) didn't pass the ball to Haaland ...

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Norway is now out of the match.

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But this wasn't the end of the story: We got to see something better than just a Viking image from Haaland, we saw fine character:

Here's how he acted in the wake of the painful loss to England:

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And word is out that he loves America. Not in a fake way, not in a way that suggests commercial interests or public relations line-feeding. Sincerely, as an authentic Norwegian sees it:

And he shows it, too:

How could anyone not be endeared by that? 

Only someone who loves his own country can really love ours. This is as true of unvetted immigration as it is with a star soccer player from Norway:

He suffered terribly for the loss of the match, we know that, but he picked himself up for the sake of his fans and put on a class act, ensuring that all of us will be delighted to see more from him in the run-up to the next World Cup, which we hope Norway will be able to exceed itself in. This is a great sportsman and a wonderful reflection of his country's image, which he clearly loves, too. Well played, Erling, we hope to hear more from you!

Image: X video screenshot