Erling Braut Haaland topped VG-sport’s annual ranking of Norway’s 100 biggest sports stars for the first time. Golf talent Viktor Hovland is in second place.
Haaland follows in the footsteps of, among others, Karsten Warholm, Marit Bjørgen, Magnus Carlsen, Petter Northug, Alexander Dale Oen, and Thor Hushovd.
“This is big. There are many good athletes, and it is great to be named the best in 2020. This is motivation to become even better next year,” Haaland noted.
The jury wrote the following about Haaland:
“It is almost impossible to comprehend that Norway has such a sought-after and good football player. The statistics are so insane that he is compared to the greatest goal hunters, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. After arriving at Dortmund in January, he won over Europe’s largest home crowd by storm from the start.”
33 goals
He scored 33 goals and six assists in 32 games for Dortmund in 2020, as well as six goals and one assist in five games for Norway.
“He had more than one goal point on average per game in the spring season, and that statistic only continued in 2020/21. He was named Golden Boy as Europe’s best football player under 21 years. At the beginning of December he was valued at NOK 1.68 billion,” the jury continued.
Haaland was also the top scorer in the Champions League after the group stage with six goals in four games before an injury in December.
Golf-talent at number two
Viktor Hovland is in second place after winning two tournaments on the PGA Tour in 2020. Marte Olsbu Røiseland, who took seven medals – five of them gold – during the World Cup in February, is in third place.
The rest of the top 10:
4) Magnus Carlsen, 5) Karsten Warholm, 6) Johannes Thingnes Bø, 7) Casper Ruud, 8) Therese Johaug, 9) Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 10) Jarl Magnus Riiber.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Be the first to comment on "Haaland tops VG’s list of Norway’s biggest sports stars"