Erling Haaland is one of the biggest names in world sport right now, but bigger than Spider-Man?
The Manchester City striker recently admitted he had no idea who Tom Holland was — even though the English actor plays one of Marvel’s most recognizable characters.
That gap in pop-culture knowledge led to an awkward situation, one that started in Monaco and left a message sitting unanswered for weeks.
Asked about being invited to dinner by one of the planet’s biggest film stars, the Norwegian needed a little help from the room before the penny finally dropped.
Erling Haaland explains the Tom Holland dinner snub
Speaking in a clip from Norwegian interview show A Laget, Haaland was asked about the dinner invite from the world’s biggest Marvel star — and at first had no clue who was being discussed.
It took a voice from the back, shouting “Tom Holland, Spider-Man,” before the name finally registered.
Once it clicked, the City forward recalled the whole episode.
He said: “Yes, of course. This is a bit embarrassing, to be completely honest. We were in Monaco at the Formula 1, and then I got a message.
“I don’t watch movies much, so I have no idea who people are. There was one asking if we could go out for dinner, but I’d never seen him, so I didn’t bother to answer. I didn’t want to answer an unknown person.”
Haaland, to his credit, seemed to feel a little guilty about leaving the actor hanging.
He added: “I think I’ll have to send him a message now. I’d completely forgotten about it.”
So the door isn’t quite closed. Haaland now sounds ready to make amends — meaning Holland might just end up getting that dinner after all.
