Lead Norway to the World Cup! Haaland: I feel a great responsibility and I am in the best shape now

Norwegian forward Haaland was interviewed by the media and talked about his status, response to outside opinions and determination to lead the Norwegian team to the World Cup.

Teammates say that the outside world has a wrong impression of you. Opinions are flying around about you?

"There are many opinions about me around the world."

As a father, you seem to have changed. How do you balance your life? Teammates say you can completely detach yourself from football.

"You have to find balance in your life. Otherwise, I think you're going to encounter a lot of adversity."

Are you in the best shape of your career right now?

"Yes."

You are now wearing the captain's armband and your goal is to lead Norway to the World Cup.

"I have a lot of thoughts in my head."

How do you balance your life?

"I have great people on the sidelines who help me and they allow me to live a normal life."

What do you think about when you see the Norwegian flag?

"When I see the Norwegian flag, I think of unity. I think of everything Norway stands for. Every time I wear the flag on my chest, I feel a great responsibility."

What do you think Norway represents abroad?

"We stand for unity. We stand for many things. We are down to earth and work hard. We are getting closer now."

What do you think is your most important contribution to the Norwegian national team?

"Be myself. Of course, I bring my football skills and I feel like I've been doing that since my debut. But there's no need to pretend you're someone else. Just be yourself and you'll go far."

You've broken so many records, how do you digest it all?

"It's difficult. I'm not going to digest it. There's no point in reading all the records and stuff like that."

The teammates are happy that the people of Norway can now see the "real you."

"I don't really care about it. The bottom line is, the people I know know who I am. I don't get to decide what other people think of me. That's just the way it is."

You now have a role model, like the video of you taking an ice bath.

"It's certainly nice to be a role model. That's what I want to do. Like I said: the simple, small choices in life are important. I just wish most people the best."

What do you think about the future of the Norwegian team?

"I've been saying this for a long time. I feel like we're picking up momentum. The generation we have now is fantastic. We have a lot of players who are at their best and a lot of young players who will be at their best in five years."

How do you see the team's progress?

"I'm still only 25. I feel good, but I still think I'm not at my best yet. There are a lot of guys on the national team who are rising up. This has been going on for a long time, and now I feel like we've cracked a code."