Italian pundit trolls Haaland after Pio Esposito’s goal for Italy

RAI Sport pundit Daniele Adani trolled Erling Haaland after Francesco Pio Esposito’s opening goal in Italy-Norway: ‘Do you know him now?’

Italy host Norway at San Siro this evening in the final matchday of the Group I European World Cup qualifiers.

Click here to follow the build-up and live action from Milan on the Football Italia LIVEBLOG.

Pio Esposito scored again for Italy

Inter striker Pio Esposito gave the Azzurri the lead after just 11 minutes, becoming the fourth-youngest player to score his third goal for La Nazionale after Giuseppe Meazza, Mario Corso and Gianni Rivera (via Opta).

Norway and Manchester City striker Haaland had raised eyebrows on the eve of the game by saying that he “didn’t know” the promising Inter striker, so Adani, a former Serie A defender, hit back at him during tonight’s live commentary.

As reported by TMW, Adani said after seeing Esposito score: “Dear Erling, do you know him now or not?”

A simple win tonight is not enough for Italy to top Group I, as the Azzurri would need a victory by nine goals to overtake Norway and get direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

What did Haaland say about Esposito?

“To be honest, I don’t know much about him. Maybe they’ll kill me for saying this, but when you play for Italy, you must have quality. And you need that same quality when you play for Inter, that’s how it is.”