Mr. Alf-Inge Haaland, father of Erling Haaland, looked very angry when Lionel Messi was announced as the owner of The Best 2023 award.
The three players shortlisted for FIFA’s The Best 2023 title are Lionel Messi, Mbappe and Haaland. Before the awards ceremony in London, Erling Haaland was considered the brightest candidate for this individual award.
Despite being nominated, Messi, Mbappe and Erling Haaland did not attend the awards ceremony. As for Erling Haaland, the Norwegian player authorized his father, Mr. Alf-Inge Haaland, to attend the event in the British capital.
When the results of the player winning The Best 2023 award were announced, the camera lens turned to Erling Haaland’s father. Mr. Alf-Inge Haaland looked very angry, because Lionel Messi defeated his son to win the second highest individual title in world football.
It is not difficult to understand Mr. Alf-Inge Haaland’s attitude because Erling Haaland has maintained top form over the past year, making a great contribution to helping Man City win the treble. After the successful 2022-23 tournament and before getting involved Injured at the end of last year and having to miss 9 matches, Erling Haaland continues to explode in the 2023-24 season (scoring 19 goals and having 5 assists in 22 matches). Meanwhile, Messi has been in decline since winning the 2022 World Cup.
Not only Mr. Alf-Inge Haaland, many fans were also upset when they heard that Messi defeated Erling Haaland in the battle to win The Best award. On social media, many fans expressed their discontent, saying this was an “unfair result” for Haaland and “one of the biggest robberies in football history.”