Erling Haaland Makes Headlines After Shirt-Swap Snub in Football Encounter

Wales beat the World Cup quarter-finalists, Norway 2-1 in the Nations League with Cabango producing an outstanding performance to keep the global superstar and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland quiet. The defender from Swansea City revealed he had asked Haaland for his jersey at the end of the game at the Cardiff City Stadium and that he did grab it.

He said, “He was just there, so I thought, why not? He just gave me the shirt but he didn't take mine.” Ben Cabango was recalled to the Wales’ squad following the team’s Sunday’s 2-0 drub against Denmark in Copenhagen.

The 26-year-old defender had played in the opening Nations League game against Portugal in Lisbon, where he went up against the icon of the game Cristiano Ronaldo. Talking about his experience, Cabango said, “it is surreal to play against Ronaldo and Haaland in the same camp. But it is definitely where you want to be, stay around that for as long as possible. You learn a lot playing against these players. You have to concentrate throughout the game and you cannot switch off at any moment. That probably brings out the best side of me and it has been good.”

Goals from Neco Williams and Dan James, after Oscar Bobb had given Norway an early lead, sealed their first win in seven games. Cabango earned his 18th senior cap in what was also Wales’ first even win in Nations League A games. Speaking about the win, Cabango said, “I would probably say it was my best game for Wales. I enjoyed the game, it was a good battle and we came out on top. I enjoy that side of the game. The ball is there to be won and I am going to try and win it 100% of the time and today it paid off.”

He further quipped, “we needed to bounce back from the last game and I felt we all did that as a collective. All the squad, the players, that came on, it was a really good performance.” The team’s coach, Craig Ballamy also praised the performance of Cabango and his partner in defense, the team’s captain Ben Davies in subduing Haaland and other Norway’s forward players.

Bellamy said, “They were brilliant, really good. It is easier said than done but that is why we were constantly pushing, constantly working to keep them as far away as we can.”