Ezri Konsa has been a mainstay at the back for England at this World Cup and is backing himself to take care of Erling Haaland. With Marc Guehi managing hamstring tightness, Konsa – the only defender to start all of England's World Cup matches – will be tasked with keeping Norway's prolific striker quiet. Konsa does not mind, however, as Haaland has fired blanks in his last four outings against Aston Villa.
Konsa's Confidence in Defence
England's 28-year-old Europa League-winning centre-back has been on the winning side in three of those matches and explained to BBC Sport ahead of their quarter-final meeting in Miami: "Look, it is going to be a test, I think every game is a test. We all know Haaland's qualities and what he can do in front of goal but I have full belief, full confidence in the defence. As long as we stay 100 per cent focused, I'm sure we'll be all right."
When pushed on Villa's exceptional recent record against Stale Solbakken's Manchester City centre-forward, Konsa added: "No secret. I really do believe in myself, in my abilities and what I can do as a defender. I think as long as we as defenders believe that we can go into that game thinking we won't give him a yard or go into that pitch knowing that you're going to stop him from scoring, I think as defenders that's the only way to go about it in games, not just this game but in every game that you play."
No Extra Advice Needed
Konsa was asked whether he would pick the brains of Jude Bellingham, Guehi, John Stones or Nico O'Reilly for extra tips before the last-eight showdown at Hard Rock Stadium. He replied: "No, I haven't, not at all. I think I've come up against Haaland quite a few times in my career, so I know what he's about, I know what I'm about, so full focus on me and what I can do in the game."
Norway's Other Threats
England know they would be wrong to purely focus on one player – even if Haaland has already plundered seven goals at this World Cup. Konsa believes Norway possess the attacking quality to hurt the Three Lions if Thomas Tuchel's backline is not on the ball. He continued: "The left winger, I think it's [Antonio] Nusa, he seems pretty good. They've also got [Martin] Odegaard, who I'm quite familiar with and they've got that tall right-winger, [Alexander] Sorloth and Sander Berge of Fulham. We know they've got a lot of quality as well, so we know we're going to have to be on our A game to overcome them."
Kane's Stellar Season
Konsa is keen to stress Norway also have something to worry about: England's Captain Marvel Harry Kane, who has struck a ridiculous 73 times for club and country this season. The versatile defender concluded: "Harry's a great human being, great person, easy to talk to. Being able to share a pitch with him is an absolute honour. You know, you hear a lot of things about Harry Kane and you see things you play against him, but when you actually train with him and you see the hard work that he puts in, the extra hours he puts in to master his craft, it's second to none. So yeah, it's no surprise to me that he's managed to score over 70 goals [73] this season and may that continue, especially for us."
