Celtic winger, Luis Palma, has explained how Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland had a huge bearing on his career back in 2019.
Yeah, you read that correctly. Palma was part of the Honduran squad that played in the FIFA u20 World Cup back in 2019 that faced Norway U20’s when Haaland was just cutting his teeth as a football player.
The Norwegian powerhouse put in a record-breaking performance as the Scandinavians tucked 12 goals past Palma’s side in a 12-0 win. Incredibly, Haaland scored NINE of those goals in a performance that first put the then-youngster’s name firmly on the footballing map.
Palma was an unused substitute in the rout but held his hands up and said that the defeat and watching Haaland’s performance ‘marked’ him.
When asked about that match, Palma said [Marca], “Don’t remind me, I’m poisoning myself. We can say that it was a tragedy for our national team and for Honduras.
“It marked us, but it gave me maturity. I had time for it.”
Being on the receiving end of such a humiliating defeat must have been humbling for the Celtic winger. And I believe him when he says it matured him as a player.
I have read numerous articles on the Honduran and he always speaks so well. He is very humble about himself and very appreciative of the fortunate position he finds himself in as a professional footballer.
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Palma certainly has what it takes to be a very good player for Celtic. The supporters have seen a glimpse of what he can do domestically in the wins over Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Hearts.
In the Champions League, Palma has also shown he can hold his own and had it not been for a very slim offside call, the 23-year-old would have recorded his first goal in the European competition.
Palma will be crucial for Celtic tonight. Let’s hope he keeps that Haaland thrashing in the back of his mind to use it as motivation to beat Atletico Madrid.
In other news, Celtic predicted XI vs Atletico Madrid tonight: ‘Outstanding’ 22-year-old gets played in new role