Giza (Egypt) (AFP)

Tall, powerful but above all intelligent: left-back or center-half Sander Sagosen, who at 25 became one of the best handball players in the world, is the leader of a favorite Norway against France on Thursday on the 1st day of the World in Egypt.

"The King of the North", his nickname that the Norwegian media have taken from the Game of Thrones series, arrives in Egypt after having conquered Europe with Kiel, his new club, at the end of December at the Final Four in Cologne.

His first major title, to which he could attach a world title on January 31 in Cairo as Norway, finalist in the last two editions, seems a solid ship with such a captain.

The gifted Trondheim, 25 years old, does not deviate from his trajectory, traced in 2016 with a distinction as best center-half of the Euro and a fourth place for the selection.

And if he failed two years in a row with PSG in the Champions League, he finally unlocked the counter as soon as he arrived in Germany, after having played the start of continental competition, interrupted by the pandemic, with his ex-club Parisian.

- Born competitor -

If Sagosen (1.95 m for 95 kg) is "one of the best players in the world", according to his ex-Parisian coach Raul Gonzalez, it is "above all for his competitive mentality, not only in matches but also in training, "said the Spanish technician in an interview with AFP.

"In this, he looks a lot like Nikola Karabatic", his French vis-à-vis and former Parisian teammate who, injured, will be largely absent from the clash between contenders for the throne on Thursday.

Son of a Norwegian international as a goalkeeper, fed from an early age in video sessions, Sander Sagosen, after having hesitated for a long time to choose football, decided to "become the best in the world".

Arrogance?

No, the method sprinkled with a very Scandinavian franchise.

The same with which he described as "farce", to the newspaper VG, the sanitary measures applied within the bubbles of the Egyptian World Cup.

"For me, it's just a matter of training well and continuing my development. To always move forward," he said during Euro 2020 during which his performance was colossal: record of goals in a Euro (65 ), plus 53 assists that make him the player involved in the most goals of this last major tournament.

- Keep up the pace -

Already in the firmament, Sagosen "will still improve in the coming years, because he is still young", underlines Gonzalez for whom the main challenge of the Norwegian lies there.

"Getting to this level is complicated, maintaining it is complicated because there are so many tournaments, championships, matches ..."

And if the Nordic nugget can shine even more, and make the collective shine, it is thanks to a well-made head.

His reading of the game and his sense of anticipation give him such a head start on the opponent that Norwegian researchers analyzed his sight last summer.

"He has an extreme ability to get ahead of anything that comes up in the game, often several strokes ahead," said Norwegian coach Christian Berge.

"When you play like him, you shoot like him, it's the fact of being smart that makes the difference," said Gonzalez, admiring his ability to "know how to read the game and do things that others are not. able to see. He is intelligent, he has a lot of experience, he has everything ".

Except a title of world champion.

But this, Sagosen is already thinking about how to make it his own.

© 2021 AFP