Bjørndalen: I will just play the way I am used to

Life has been good to Ida Bjørndalen lately. This summer, the 29 year-old Norwegian right back, who plays for Danish team KIF Vejen, married Swedish international Lukas Karlsson from KIF Kolding, and at the moment she is the top scorer in the Danish league with 66 goals in nine matches, an average of more than seven goals per match.

On top of all this, the former Larvik and Viborg player was nominated for Norway’s squad for the EHF EURO 2012 in December earlier this week.

The nomination came as some kind of a surprise to Bjørndalen.

“I have not been in the national team since a get-together a couple of years ago, so the nomination actually came as a surprise.

“I was nominated for the squad for the Golden League in Denmark in September, but an overstretched muscle in my thigh prevented me from participating, and I really thought that my chances were gone.

“Last week, however, I got an email from my father who informed me that my name was being discussed in regards to the squad for the European Championship, and I was really happy when I received a phone call the day before the squad was announced, informing me that I was in,” Ida Bjørndalen told eurohandball.com.

But what does she have to offer after having been absent from the national team for so long?

“I have played well for my club team lately, so I will come in with a lot of self-confidence, and apart from that I will just play the way I am used to.”

Actually, I have played with a number of the current players in Norway´s team during my time in Larvik and Vborg, so I will not be a complete stranger to the team, said the left handed back court player who sees her team as having a fair chance to take the title again.

“I see us among the favourites, and medals are definitely a goal, but there are many good teams this time.

“France appears to be interesting, and you should not forget that Denmark won the Golden League at home in September.

“I think we will get a quite good impression of how we stand already in our first match, where we meet Serbia.

“The hall will be full, and we will be under enormous pressure from the crowd,” explains Bjørndalen.



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