– I want to show that I am a player the national team can trust

The playmakerA player in a sport who often has the ball and sets up play for the team, often responsible for creating scoring chances. envisions that he can be an important piece for Norway right up to the year 2040.

– Now I take the steps I want to take. I do what I expect of myself. I want to show that I am a player the national team can trust. Hopefully I will be here for 10-15 years. Then it’s about being as good as I can with the players I have around me, says the Bærumskaren, who has been successful in Elverum.

Two years ago, he was named the young player of the season in the Champions League. Grøndahl was also on this year’s team. Success has been a long time coming for Norway.

But in the EC final against Sweden in January, he got the chance. Grøndahl dominated and Norway beat their semi-final neighbors with 10 goals. It continued with eight goals when the Olympic place was secured against Hungary in March.

– He was insanely good. He has been good for a long time and gradually got used to it, says Jonas Wille.

– We went “all in” on him. So far it has worked very well. He has one cutting-edge expertiseSpecial expertise or skill in a particular area. in his creativity, but he can also be very direct in his playing style. That combination fits very well. We want both flow and danger, explains the national team manager.

Norway played another good game when Croatia was beaten on Thursday. But Grøndahl couldn’t find the rhythm and left Jordal Amfi without scoring.

Afterwards, he passed a rather merciless judgment on his own game.

– I am disappointed with my own efforts, but there are still things I can build on. Absolutely far from where I need to be. I play the others just fine, but I can do better. The technical errorsPersonal errors that allowed Croatia to take over the ball what I did against Croatia will not happen against Denmark, promises Grøndahl.

The Danish champions come to Oslo without Mikkel Hansen and Niklas Landin on Saturday, but have the unique Mathias Gidsel and super goalkeeper Emil Nielsen. Norway lost by six to Denmark in the EC, and have not won against them in a championship for 16 years.

– Denmark is without a doubt the world’s best national team with the best the coachNikolaj Jacobsen is the Danish national team manager. We must dig into what happened in the EC and learn from it, Grøndahl believes.

– Can you beat Denmark?

– Undoubtedly. If we are in the push, we can beat all national teams, Grøndahl responds offensively.

After the EC bronze in 2020, Norway has played five championships without winning a medal. In this summer’s Olympics, Norway will have a tough time group games The start of the Olympic handball tournament where six teams meet each other. The top four go to the quarter-finals.with both Denmark and France as opponents.

– We have a tough group, but have the opportunity to reach a semi-final. The dream is of course to reach the gold. We know how difficult and marginal it is. But everyone here has faith that we can win Olympic gold if we are at our best, says Tobias Grøndahl.

In the summer, he makes himself “Danish”. After five years in Elverum, Grøndahl moves to Funen to play together with Alexander Blonz in GOG.