"I'M WATCHING ROO!" - Haaland sends message to Rooney after Norway jibe leaves England icon with egg on face
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Erling Haaland has not let
Wayne Rooney
forget about his rowing trip ahead of
England
’s
World Cup
quarter final with
Norway
. The Three Lions legend famously bet to row down the River Mersey should the Scandinavian side get past
Brazil
in the round of 16.
He said: “If Norway get to the quarter-finals, I’ll go in the River Mersey and row down it.”
And they did exactly that, with
two goals from Haaland seeing Norway progress
and reach the quarter-finals for the first time in the nation’s history. And their star man has now made sure to remind Rooney of his promise.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s quarter final, he said: “I’m looking forward to seeing Wayne, Wayney boy. I’m looking forward to seeing
rowing down in
Liverpool
. That’s all I want to see now. Wayne Rooney, I expect you to go out on a rowing trip.”
Meanwhile, Rooney also discussed his bet a few days after Norway’s shock win and claimed that he was attempting to get a few colleagues to join in. After being reminded by host Kelly Cates, he said: “Was that me?”
Rooney added: “I’m a man of my word. Micah [Richards] has agreed to do it with me.
“We’re a team. The only thing I’ll say is, because we’ve got a lot on, it might have to be the Hudson River when we’re in New York. If the
BBC
can sort that.”
Fellow pundit
Joe Hart
then claimed that he would be up for rowing alongside Rooney as he said: “I’ll do the Hudson with you.”
Rooney’s embarrassment didn’t quite end there. BBC Sport then mocked up a graphic of the former forward in an England shirt rowing down the Mersey with the Liverpool skyline visible behind him alongside the caption: “Over to you.”

Despite Rooney’s promise, it appears that Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has a slightly different idea for him to complete his forfeit.
He said: “How about this instead, we can sort out a rowing boat OR in a couple of months’ time, we’ll launch our brand new £26m Mersey Ferry. Fancy swapping oars for the captain’s chair?”
Rooney’s initial bet was inspired by Norway’s viral post-match rowing celebration at the World Cup. One player plays a drum in unison with fans and players pretending to row.
England fans will certainly hope that they are unable to perform the celebration after Saturday’s game in Miami. The victor of that game will head into a semi-final on Wednesday in Atlanta where they will meet either
Switzerland
or
Argentina
.