Cristiano Ronaldo my inspiration – Haaland
Borussia Dortmund sensation Erling Haaland said Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo ‘ is an inspiration’ while revealing little concern after Paris Saint-Germain seemed to mock his meditation celebration.
Haaland has been a revelation in 2019-20, his exploits already linking him with a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid.
The 19-year-old striker scored 28 goals in all competitions for Salzburg this term before joining Dortmund in January, netting another 12 in just 11 appearances prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
And Haaland said five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo has been an inspirational figure.
“You could just see it in Ronaldo’s face that ‘today I’m the man’ and ‘today, I will score goals’ and that’s what he did,” Haaland told ESPN, having watched Ronaldo growing up.
“That’s what I like the best, how dedicated and hungry they are to succeed and to be the man in the moment.”
On his incredible start to life at Bundesliga outfit Dortmund, Haaland added: “It’s been a very good start and from my debut, I’ve been enjoying it a lot and smiling a lot and these kinds of things and that’s what’s the most important about my life, to smile a lot and these kinds of things. So, yeah, that’s what I try to do the most.
“I feel I’m improving every day and now that I play with even better team-mates than what I played with in Salzburg – all respect to Salzburg – but yeah, they can find me in even better situations and this, so yeah it’s been good. It’s been a good first month.”
Haaland was mocked by Neymar and the PSG squad after Dortmund lost to the Ligue 1 holders in the Champions League last 16.
The first-leg brace from Haaland gave Dortmund a 2-1 win over PSG before the French champions rallied to prevail 2-0 and 3-2 on aggregate in March.
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Haaland celebrated his two goals in the opening leg by sitting cross-legged and pretending to meditate – a celebration Neymar mimicked at the Parc des Princes, where PSG team-mates followed post-game.
“I think they helped me a lot to get meditation out in the world and to show the whole world that meditation is an important thing so I’m thankful that they helped me with that,” Haaland said.