Sweden-Denmark, here is the poster for the 2021 Handball World Cup in Egypt. In the Cairo sports palace orphaned by its 17,000 spectators, due to the closed door imposed by the pandemic, it will be the very first final in a major competition between the two neighbors. That of renaissance for Sweden? The actors of the triumph against France on Friday (32-26) were young children when their elders dominated the handball world at the turn of the millennium.
Fate does things right
Fate is teasing: 22 years later, Jim Gottfridsson and Daniel Petersson (28), Hampus Wanne (26), Jonathan Carlsbogard (25), Felix Claar and Lukas Sandell (23) have the opportunity to reopen the guestbook Swedish in the same room where their illustrious predecessors Magnus Wislander, Stefan Lövgren, Staffan Olsson and Magnus Andersson had held the fourth world title for the Baltic kingdom.
It was one evening in June 1999 against Russia (25-24), three years before a last triumph at Euro 2002 for this golden generation. Once it left, Sweden began a long crossing of the desert, punctuated by two bursts of shards – a new Olympic final in 2012, then that of Euro 2018 – but never followed by tomorrow.
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The Solberg paw
No one had seen them coming, and for good reason: only five 2018 European vice-champions are present in Cairo, while four executives (Niclas Ekberg, Jesper Nielsen, Andreas Nilsson, Lukas Nilsson) did not make the trip and that three others are injured!
A coup that bears the signature of a Norwegian, the former international Glenn Solberg (48), hired without reference in 2020. “ It was a bet of the Swedish federation to go on Glenn, who had never led to a selection or a high level team. Good game “, greets his former teammate Ole Erevik, who came to Egypt as a consultant for the online channel Viaplay.
“With so many big packages, it’s really a sensation! They play with more speed than before and that is the idea of Glenn Solberg », believes Erevik, former keeper of Aix-en-Provence.
In the final, the carefree Swedes, who sunbathe without embarrassment by the pool of the hotel in central Cairo where the teams and the media are housed, could come down from their clouds against Danish goalkeeper Niklas Landin, considered the best in the world. world.
And the will of Mikkel Hansen, author of 12 goals Friday against Spain (35-33), to keep the crown acquired two years earlier at home. After all, Denmark, with its two nuggets Mathias Gidsel (21) and Emil Jakobsen (23), also has youth to spare and a slump to forget, that of Euro 2020 left in the first round.
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Denmark stack the goals
Coach Nikolaj Jacobsen was bolstered and one later the Danish attacking arsenal is more powerful than ever, averaging 35 goals per game and the second-best shooting success rate (72%) among the 32 nations on the starting line.
The Swedish renaissance is therefore not enough to scare the Danes, who passed very close to a quarter-end exit against Egypt. “From what I have seen so far, it is a team with a good 6-0 defense, two good goalkeepers, very efficient in the fast game and very disciplined in attack”, commented Hansen to theAFP.
It will also be a question of regional hegemony, while restraint among phlegmatic Scandinavians. “It is always a great pleasure to play against our neighbors, both countries have a great history of handball”, says the star of PSG.
Erevik, for whom “Swedish pride took a hit” when Sander Sagosen’s Norway has in turn become dominant in recent years, it is indeed a “Friendly rivalry” between Nordics. Which should give birth to a big show in Cairo on Sunday.
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