EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2014 Erling Haaland banged the drum to lead Norway fans in the Viking Row that has become a signature part of the World Cup.<\/p>\n
After celebrating carrying his nation into the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time by scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Brazil on Sunday, his thoughts drifted to the scene back home where tens of thousands of Norwegians partied into the night.<\/p>\n
And, of course, performed the Viking Row themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the streets in Norway,\u201d Haaland said. \u201cI\u2019ve never experienced anything like it before. I kind of wish that I was in Oslo now celebrating with all the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully for his teammates, the Manchester City striker is in the U.S. piling up the goals and making this the best World Cup in the history of Norway\u2019s men\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n
This improbable run that took another leap forward by knocking off five-time champion Brazil is stirring up pride in fans at stadiums and in the streets where the games are taking place, and across the Scandinavian country of more than 5.5 million people.<\/p>\n
As many as 50,000 were watching the match against Brazil at R\u00e5dhusplassen \u2014 the square outside the town hall \u2014 in Norwegian capital Oslo, according to the city council. Wearing a Norway soccer scarf around his neck, Crown Prince Haakon even met a throng of fans outside the royal palace and was seen taking part in a mass Viking Row after the game.<\/p>\n
Fireworks exploded at Ullevaal Stadium, the home ground of Norway\u2019s national team and where thousands more sat on long tables to view the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole nation is rowing together,\u201d coach St\u00e5le Solbakken said. \u201cWe are having a great party here and in Oslo and in all the other big and small cities all the way through Norway, and the rowing is in a way a symbol of that and that we\u2019re all together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giant crowds of fans in the red, white and blue colors of the flag turned the rowing into a viral sensation by taking over Times Square and doing it in the stands at a New York Mets baseball game. They will get at least one more chance to see Norway play, against England on Saturday outside Miami with the chance to reach the semifinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to keep the feet on the ground,\u201d captain Martin \u00d8degaard said. \u201cWe\u2019ve shown that we can beat anyone and that we are really enjoying what we\u2019re doing. We\u2019re having fun, and in football everything is possible so just keep the foot on the floor, keep working hard and we\u2019ll see what happens and just go with the flow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norway is in the World Cup for just the fourth time and the first since 1998 after failing to qualify each of the past six times. Haaland, who turns 26 on July 21, was not even born then and joked that no one can blame him for previous defeats when he wasn\u2019t playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can blame me for coming here,\u201d said Haaland, whose seven goals at his first World Cup are tied with Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi and France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable. I\u2019m proud. I\u2019m proud of my country, and I\u2019m proud of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, it continues a fairytale season for Norwegian soccer, with Bod\u00f8\/Glimt \u2014 a tiny team that plays in an 8,000-capacity stadium \u2014 delivering one of the most extraordinary stories for years in the European game by qualifying for the Champions League and beating a string of top teams, including Haaland\u2019s Man City, to reach the knockout stage.<\/p>\n
Now the national men\u2019s team is taking center stage in its first major international tournament since 2000. The players are looking to emulate Norway\u2019s women\u2019s team, which won the World Cup in 1995 and has long been a top international side. <\/p>\n
Haaland said several times after beating Brazil that he could not believe such a victory was possible and that it was beyond his wildest dreams to pull it off.<\/p>\n
He also hopes Norway\u2019s success transcends this year and makes kids want to represent their country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to actually also cultivate a culture where we are proud to play for the national team, and if you play for Norway then you should do it proudly and I think we should cultivate this kind of attitude in young people,\u201d Haaland said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo all the kids who see and watch now, I want you to do like me, and I want you to play proudly when you grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2014 Erling Haaland banged the drum to lead Norway fans in the Viking Row that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-747633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}