EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As the father of a longtime Manchester City fanatic, I’ve welcomed Erling Haaland into my living room on dozens of occasions over the last four years. He was appointment TV on weekend mornings, much like the cartoons and creature features of my youth.With his Viking physicality and flowing rock-star hair tucked inside a ponytail, the 6-foot-5, 208-pound Haaland has always been a mesmerizing figure to watch. He has that man-among-boys presence around the pitch that, in their primes, LeBron James carried around the court and Michael Phelps carried around the pool.Norway’s New York-based consul general, Jo Sletbak, put it this way in an interview with The Athletic: “He’s a monster out there.”The monster of the Meadowlands for one rainy, foggy, fantastic World Cup night.I wanted to finally see Haaland in the flesh — all of his strengths and, yes, his imperfections too — and not as a TV superhero who scored goals by the truckload and powered Man City to the 2023 treble, to my son Kyle’s everlasting delight. So I brought the binoculars and settled in for the second act of Norway’s first World Cup appearance in 28 years.I found that Haaland is a more devastating force in living color than he is in high def. As far as show-stopping performances I witnessed over the decades on these swampy Jersey grounds — in Giants and MetLife stadiums — Pelé, Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Springsteen had nothing on the electric No 9.Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic appHaaland scored a second straight double in the World Cup, leading his country to a 3-2 victory over Senegal and to a spot in the round of 32. The thousands of Norwegians who poured into New York City and flooded Times Square like the Red Sea, and who performed their signature rowing chant throughout this match, inspired their footballers to take seats on the imported MetLife grass afterward and row and chant with them, while captain Martin Ødegaard worked the drum.Haaland was all smiles in contrast to his disposition during his scoreless first half, when he was constantly gesturing at his team-mates — imploring and directing them, not berating them. He ultimately took out his frustrations on Senegal’s goalkeeper, Édouard Mendy, sprinting at him like he sprinted at Iraq’s Jalal Hassan in Norway’s opening victory.Both keepers buckled and froze around the ball as if being charged by a rhinoceros, but only Hassan paid for it. Haaland’s takeaway Monday night amounted only to a hit post from a tough angle and a reaction that mirrored the Hulk’s 12 seconds later when he crushed a Senegal defender in the air and headed the ball into a diving Mendy’s outstretched arms.Erling Haaland attempts a header against Senegal’s El Hadji Malick Diouf in the first half (Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)Haaland dropped to his knees on the pitch and slammed his hands into the grass, then was seen walking to the locker room shaking his head in disbelief.But those fireworks signaled the breakthrough to come early in the second half, when a fast-breaking, sliding Haaland elevated a ball that deflected off Mendy’s left fingertips and into the net to make it 2-0. The striker celebrated with a stroll to the corner to join Ødegaard in a dramatic pose with one hand on the flag and the other on his hip.