Alongside the development of artificial pitches, Grottland cited a “revolution” in the period 2010-2020, “where Norwegian football, the top clubs, the federations and the districts started to invest heavily in player development”.
After failing to qualify for Euro 2012, the Norwegian Football Federation established Landslagsskolen, known as the NTS, in 2013.
Of the 15 players who played in Norway’s 2-1 victory over Brazil, 14 had represented the national team at youth level and 11 of those were part of the NTS pathway from under-15 or under-16s.
Grottland clarified the NTS was not an academy nor a centralised school, such as the famed Clairefontaine in France, but “a national development structure connecting grassroots clubs, districts, top clubs and the federation”.
“It’s not like in other countries where the top clubs are working on talent development and the grassroots clubs are just having fun,” he added.
“In Norway, everyone’s in it together.”
The importance of that grassroots system was acknowledged by the national team before the World Cup, when the squad posed for a team photograph wearing kits from their first clubs.
In England, many promising talents are selected by Premier League academies at the age of eight, but children in Norway stay with their grassroots clubs until 12.
“One important part of the philosophy is that we are not trying to close doors too early,” said Grottland.
He used Haaland, 25, as an example of why this philosophy has worked as he added: “He was part of national talent camps within the National Team School (NTS) structure from the age of 14, but at that time nobody thought he would become the best player in that age group.”
The one player Grottland was sure about from a young age was Odegaard, admitting the whole philosophy of the NTS was inspired by encountering him at 11.
Having been coveted by Europe’s leading clubs, the midfield prodigy signed for Real Madrid aged 16 for 4m euros (£3.4m).
“In Norway, a talented player is a player who loves the game the most – a player who has ownership for his own development and who takes ownership for the team’s development,” added Grottland.
“We don’t measure ball handling and speed and things like that. We start with: ‘does the player love this game?’
“That was inspired by Odegaard – I’ve never seen anyone like him as a child.”
