At this point, almost everyone in the world knows who Erling Haaland is. The Norwegian footballer took the world by storm with his impressive goals and unique gait. So of course, when Dutch content creators decided to do an impression of him, the video quickly went viral.
Regardless of whether you watched the World Cup or not, your algorithm has probably been flooded with clips of the Norwegian viking footballer.
Maxime and Sophie saw an opportunity and they took it.
The iconic walk
One of Haaland’s many viral moments is a clip of him walking what can only be described as “face first.”
@mnb86651 Haaland does the Haaland walk.#haaland #vegetables #worldcup #fifa ♬ צליל מקורי – mnb
The Dutch creators saw this as one of many perfect moments to recreate, partially because of Maxime’s strangely flexible neck, they tell AD. “It’s a recurring joke that I have a long neck and can throw it in any direction,” she tells them.
The result? A bizarrely accurate impression of the footballer:
@maximeandsophie Haaland be like😂 #haaland #football ♬ Haaland (Ha Ha Ha) – CTID
The video has gone insanely viral, amassing no less than 102 million views on Instagram and 21.1 million views on TikTok.
The video went so viral that a London taxi driver even recognised Maxime. “He thought I was Haaland’s sister,” she tells AD.
Haters gonna hate
Of course, with every video that goes viral, there’s going to be plenty of hate.
People online claim that the video wasn’t completely accurate because Haaland wasn’t wearing a shirt when he did the iconic strut. Maxime was quick to point out that the reason for her shirt was obvious.
Some also believed the exaggerated walk was insulting to Haaland, but the creators defended the video, saying the good-natured footballer has responded positively to memes about him.
“I think Haaland would love it,” Maxime tells AD. “He has said that he finds memes about himself funny. When you make humorous videos on the internet, you often exaggerate things. That’s part of the deal.”
What do you think of the video? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
