A food content creator made a post claiming she’s a private chef for a World Cup player. But have her commenters truly figured out who she works for?<\/p>\n
Zarina Makhanbetzhan (@zarinamkhn), a Los Angeles-based food blogger, posted a viral video in which she made a steak sandwich. Makhanbetzhan wrote in the post’s on-screen text, “pov: you’re a private chef for a World Cup player.”<\/p>\n
Thousands of commenters replied to her video and tried to guess who Makhanbetzhan works for. Others said that Makhanbetzhan may not even work for a World Cup player after all.<\/p>\n
As of this writing, Makhanbetzhan’s post has more than 14.1 million views.<\/p>\n
So have sleuths cracked the code?<\/p>\n
Who does she supposedly work for?<\/p>\n
Makhanbetzhan made a steak sandwich in her video. It included caramelized onions, a chive garlic butter sauce, soft white cheese that appears to be provolone and hand-cut bread, and became so popular that other creators made their own version with the same video hook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some commenters said they’d be jealous of whoever ate the sandwich, while others made genuine attempts to guess who Makhanbetzhan works for.<\/p>\n Multiple viewers claimed that she works for professional Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland, who recently competed in the World Cup’s quarterfinals<\/a>. They cited a video of Haaland eating a similar steak sandwich to the one Makhanbetzhan makes in her viral clip.<\/p>\n “The video of Haaland eating a sandwich is right under this,” one said.<\/p>\n “She is Haaland’s chef. I saw him eating that same sandwich,” another claimed.<\/p>\n A third said, “That steak knocked Brazil out the World Cup and retired Neymar.”<\/p>\n Makhanbetzhan hasn’t confirmed what soccer player she works for, if any.<\/p>\n Does she really cook for Haaland?<\/p>\n Upon further scrutiny, the steak sandwich Haaland ate does not match the one in Makhanbetzhan’s post. Haaland ate his sandwich in Boston, Massachusetts<\/a>. Boston is roughly 1,500 miles from LA, so unless the Makhanbetzhan flew the sandwich from her California-based kitchen, it’s unlikely she made it.<\/p>\n There are other clips of Haaland eating on the internet, but they, too, don’t exactly point toward Makhanbetzhan’s sandwich<\/p>\n Additionally, Haaland has posted multiple videos of him cooking his own meals<\/a> on YouTube<\/a>. While that doesn’t necessarily refute the idea that he has his own chef, most of the footballer’s day-to-day content doesn’t include any mention of a professional hand crafting his meals.<\/p>\n It’s possible Haaland’s team hired a professional chef in the United States during the World Cup. But Norway has only played in Miami<\/a>, New York \/ New Jersey<\/a>, Boston<\/a>, and Dallas<\/a>. Makhanbetzhan hasn’t posted any content outside of her home kitchen that indicates she’s traveled.<\/p>\n The mystery of whether Makhanbetzhan cooks for a World Cup player remains uncracked.<\/p>\n The Big Lead reached out to Makhanbetzhan via email and the Manchester City Press office for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n