England must cut Haaland's supply lines, says Rogers

KANSAS CITY, Missouri, July 8 : One of the world's most feared strikers stands between England and the World Cup semi-finals, but the upside for Thomas Tuchel's side is that few international teams know Erling Haaland as well as they do.

The prolific Norwegian has spent the last four years terrorising Premier League defences with Manchester City, scoring goals at a remarkable rate and becoming a familiar opponent for many of England's players.

The 25-year-old's combination of power, pace and finishing ability is frightening and with seven goals in the tournament already England know that allowing him any space in Miami on Saturday could prove fatal.

Asked how to contain Haaland, England midfielder Morgan Rogers laughed.

"Has anyone ever stopped Erling Haaland? Not sure they have, but we're gonna try," Rogers told reporters on Wednesday.

"He's such an unbelievable player, the things he does, the numbers he puts up, you just know how good he is that we're gonna have to maybe try and ... stop how the balls go into him and how he gets his chances, because he's so deadly in front of the goal."

Rogers' Aston Villa have held Haaland goalless in City's last four trips to Villa Park, although the 23-year-old put that down to luck, but he said other Norway players with English sides - such as Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard - were also major threats.

England will be buoyed by their dramatic 10-man 3-2 victory over Mexico in the last 16, a match that delivered one of the team's most memorable World Cup performances in recent years.

EXHAUSTED SQUAD

The squad returned to their Kansas City base in the early hours of Monday morning after a match Rogers said had left them exhausted. 

"That was the message today with our first training session