England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway in Miami could be threatened by more storm delays after their last-16 tie in Mexico City was pushed back an hour because of lightning and heavy rain. Now the Three Lions must also find a way to neutralise the ‘unstoppable’ Erling Haaland.
Morgan Rogers, the England attacking midfielder, admits there is no secret to stopping the Manchester City striker. ‘Has anyone ever stopped Erling Haaland? I’m not sure they have but we are going to have to try,’ Rogers said. ‘I think he’s such an unbelievable player, the things he does, the numbers he puts up, you’re just in awe of how good he is.’
“Morgan Rogers admits England cannot stop Erling Haaland but must cut his supply as storm threat looms in Miami.”
Haaland has failed to score in his last four appearances against Aston Villa, Rogers’ club side, but the 23-year-old insists that is no blueprint. ‘We’re going to have to maybe try and stop how they play and work on those things and stop how the balls go into him,’ he said. ‘He’s so deadly in front of goal.’
Rogers also warned against focusing solely on Haaland. ‘They’ve got other good players as well that we play against regularly in the Premier League,’ he said. ‘Their biggest super strength is that as a team, as a unit, they’re so strong.’
Despite the daunting task, Rogers admitted he and his teammates are allowing themselves to dream of the final. ‘We’re all human and we’re excited as we should be,’ he said. But he stressed the importance of staying focused: ‘If you take your eye off the ball for any second, that’s where you can get punished.’