Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen is the in-game leader for North and an important figure in Danish CS:GO. Ahead of his games at the ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals, MSL answered questions from theScore esports about the progress his team has made since their formation in early 2017 and why he has the number 8 on his jersey.

With the Major getting ever closer, what are your thoughts on the team’s progression since the formation of this roster? It seems like you guys are still going through some growing pains.

Most teams shine from the start, we had DreamHack Masters Las Vegas, which was a fine result and afterwards it has been underwhelming for us.

I believe that we are growing a lot, we are 100 percent sure about how we are playing as T-side and I think we have probably the best T-sides in the game, but compared to the best teams, our CT-sides have been way too weak.

I believe that we will shine in the near future, we have a lot of new stuff going on in order to make it happen. We are practising differently, we are starting to work with a mental coach, we are aware of our problems and we are working very hard to fix them. So I really believe that we will take the world by storm soon.

This team has so much potential and when we can get it out, it will be deadly.

Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke in particular is playing out of his mind, however Philip "aizy" Aistrup seems to still be struggling in the lineup. What can you say about this?

In terms of people under-performing or playing really well, for me this is a team-game. If we lose, we lose as a team and we need to fix it together. Stats don't matter for me, it's more about if everyone has done their role well, and if not, we need to fix it within the team.

North has very recently picked up an academy roster. I believe both North teams will share the same space, providing opportunity for collaboration. What are your thoughts on this?

I don't think it will help us a lot in terms of getting better as a team, but it is nice to have someone else than yourself to root for and have another CS:GO team in the building when we move there.

RELATED: LOMME on leading North Academy: 'I’ve played with most of Denmark’s great callers (MSL, Snappi, karrigan) so I would like to think that I picked up a thing or two from them'

North has had increased on-camera exposure with the Destination North documentary series. How do you feel about being filmed almost all the time? k0nfig had his vlogs during DreamHack Masters Las Vegas, would you be open to doing something similar?

I think it's very cool, it's a way to give back to your fans. It's awesome to share content about yourself and show them who you are and what is going through your head and so on.

It's only positive and I would have no problem doing vlogs, but I think k0nfig is a bit more entertaining to follow.

You have the jersey number 8, what’s the significance of this?

When I was younger I always played number 8 in both football and handball, it was my number and it just felt right to pick it in North as well.

Considering you guys have an Adidas sponsorship and I know your teammates are a bunch of sneakerheads, how soon can we expect an Adidas x North shoe collaboration? And on a similar note, is there a pair of shoes out there that you have your eye on?

Haha, lets wait and see, it could be pretty dope.

I'm actually not much of a shoe-enthusiast, so there is not really a pair of shoes I'm looking at, at the moment. Adidas is giving some pretty nice shoes to us, so I'm just fine with those!

RELATED: Sizing up esports' hidden obsession with sneakers

North on the stage of IEM Season XII Katowice, rocking the adidas Ultra Boost ST as part of their uniform

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.