On Saturday (16 January), Norway’s 20-year-old left wing Alexandre Blonz feared his 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship was over before it had begun.

Unused in the 28:24 opening day win against France 48 hours earlier, the Elverum player was warming up for Norway’s second Group E clash, against Switzerland, taking shots, when he felt pain in his left knee – the same knee which he injured at the end of a Men’s EHF Champions League match against Porto last September, a match in which he scored 10 times.

But the pre-match injury at the Dr Hassan Moustafa Sport Hall was less than originally feared, with Blonz finally making his Egypt 2021 bow for Christian Berge’s side against Austria last night, scoring seven goals as Norway ensured their main round spot.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Blonz to ihf.info about his emotions in the 48 hours before the Austrian clash. “When we checked it (the knee) on Saturday night it didn’t look that bad and I got the message on Sunday that if it looked stable, I could play on it – and it was stable.

“Since we checked it the first time, I always had a positive thought I would keep playing,” he added. “It was really good to get to play and I’m really happy for that, (Berge) told me in the morning that I was playing.”

North Africa and IHF World Championship hold a special place in the career of Blonz, who, two years ago, made his debut in the competition, playing just over four minutes in a 10-goal Norwegian win over Tunisia.

The following day he opened his world championship scoring account, with six against Saudi Arabia and two days later he added a solitary strike against Austria. But it was his performance against Chile where he announced himself fully, playing all 60 minutes, scoring eight, and taking home the best player award. 

Norway would go on to grab silver in the championship for the second time in a row, and for Blonz, 2019 feels like it was yesterday.

“It’s really clear for me – it was my first championship experience and it was really good,” said Blonz about his Germany/Denmark 2019 memories.

“I was still very young and a rookie then because I still played in the Norwegian second league at the time (with Viking HK), so it was just a huge experience for me to play with these guys and to get see how high the level was, and it was really fun that we had a great championship as well.”

Norway are staying at the Marriott Mena Hotel, under the Pyramids of Giza, an impressive backdrop in a relaxed hotel environment which sees the France-born Blonz surrounded by a number of club teammates with club captain Thomas Solstad joined by Simen Holand Pettersen, along with their coach, Borge Lund, assistant to Berge for Norway – himself a former Elverum coach.

In addition to the Norwegian national team players and coaches, Elverum’s Dominik Mathe is also at the hotel with Hungary, as is Luc Abalo with France. And it would have been another player too, had the USA been able to attend, with goalkeeper Nicolas Robinson also playing for the club in the city close to the Swedish border.

“No, we haven’t spoken so much, it’s just been ‘hello’ when we pass each other – but we keep our distance of course,” said Blonz about if he had time to catch up with his club colleagues. “It’s nice to see them again as I haven’t seen them since last year.

“Of course, I wish them all the luck in this championship, but I hope we will win it.”

Today, Norway are enjoying a rest day before starting their main round campaign against Portugal tomorrow, followed by Algeria and then Iceland, a campaign which sees them take two points into the next phase and two teams they know well.

“It’s three really tough teams in Portugal, Iceland and Algeria,” said Blonz. “We played Iceland and Portugal both last year in the European Championship and we won both matches.

“As I remember we didn’t win by that much in the Iceland game (31:28). We had a really, really good start and then we controlled the game, but against Portugal it was a tight game where we took the two points in the end (34:28). 

“Of course, Iceland are missing some players in (Aron) Palmarsson, (Haukur) Thrastarsson and (Janus) Smarason, but it’s still a great team with a great spirit so both games will be tough.

“As for Algeria, we have met that (style) before so it’s not that surprising. I think it’s exciting to see how different nations choose how to play handball and that’s developing and evolving the sport, so that’s good.”

With the ever-present Norwegian fans missing from the behind-closed-doors Egypt 2021, Blonz has a message for them going into the second phase of the competition.

“I am hoping they are having fun at home and will be cheering us to gold.”