Erling Haaland couldn’t stop smiling after meeting a special guest again at the RB Leipzig game.
Erling Haaland caught up with his old friend and former teammate Andrea Norheim after Manchester City’s big Champions League win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday night. Haaland, who scored the winning goal in City’s 3-2 victory, ran into Norheim as he headed to the Red Bull Arena dressing room after the match.
They actually grew up together in the small town of Bryne in Norway and played side by side in the youth team at Bryne FK from when they were five until they were 16. Norheim has been praised for helping Haaland develop his football skills during those early years.
When Haaland moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a German newspaper ran a story called “Haaland learned football from a girl,” which Norheim quickly dismissed. “I don’t want to say I taught him everything. We trained together for a long time, that’s all,” she said. “He was really small but always a strong player and goal scorer. Even though he was younger than the others, he played with them and showed he was good enough.”
Since then, Haaland has become one of the world’s top strikers, breaking records at Dortmund before moving to Manchester City. He set a new Premier League record by scoring 36 goals in a single season and became Norway’s top scorer ever—a huge achievement for the 26-year-old.
Norheim left Norway at 17 to join Lyon, who have won the Champions League eight times. She later played for Swedish club Pitea IF, and had spells at HB Køge, Sporting Lisbon, and now plays for RB Leipzig in Germany.
After their reunion, Norheim told BILD that they hadn’t seen each other for about eight years but Haaland recognized her right away. “It was fun to catch up. He’s just the same as when we were kids,” she said. “It’s really cool that we’re both here now. I enjoyed seeing him play again.”