KANSAS CITY, Missouri, United States (US): Defender Dan Burn believes England must be far better than they were against Mexico to beat Norway, and would relish the challenge of keeping Erling Haaland quiet, reported PA Media/dpa.
A place in the World Cup semi-finals is on offer in the Miami heat this weekend as the Scandinavian surprise package take on Thomas Tuchel’s men, buoyed by last Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Brazil.
England overcame hostility, altitude and Jarell Quansah’s red card later that day to beat Mexico 3-2 at the electric Estadio Azteca, where Burn played a key role off the bench.
The towering defender helped Tuchel’s 10 men batten down the hatches and knows far more is required if they are to avoid an agonising quarter-final exit to Norway.
“It does not surprise us at all how well they’ve done, to be honest,” Burn told talkSPORT.
“I saw how well they did in qualification. They had a tough group with Italy in it and topped that, and scored many goals, so it doesn’t surprise us that they’re doing well, even beating Brazil.
“I know Brazil were favourites for that, but when you’ve got players like Haaland and (Martin) Odegaard, and people that can affect the game, it doesn’t surprise us that they’re at this stage.
“It is one of them where we’re going to have to be top level all over the pitch and put in probably a lot better performance than we did against Mexico to get through, but it’s something that we’re prepared for.
“The manager had a meeting (Wednesday) morning, and sort of said like ‘Mexico is done now’. We’ve sort of sat and taken the praise and everything for it, but it means nothing really if we don’t beat Norway.
“Now it’s focusing on that. It’ll be different conditions – we’ll not have the altitude, but we’ll have the heat – and you know with Erling, he only needs one touch in the box to score, so everyone’s going to have to be on it.”
Haaland is the brightest star among a Norway squad filled with Premier League talent, with the Manchester City sharpshooter’s brace seeing off Brazil on Sunday.
The 25-year-old has scored seven goals this summer, just one behind Golden Boot leader, Lionel Messi, but has only managed to score once in his previous contests with Newcastle United defender, Burn.
“Yeah, I don’t want to jinx it,” the veteran said with a laugh. “But, yeah, one goal. I do enjoy playing against Erling purely just from a physical point of view.
“I quite like that sort of physical battle, and I get on well with him on the pitch. We do get on quite well, although you’d have to ask him if he thinks the same thing,” Burn said.
“If I’m asked to do that, I’ll be more than ready and more than happy to do that.
“But obviously I also know that we’ve got sort of four other centre halves here who are also top-quality players and have played this whole tournament because of that too.” – BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa
