There are probably a few years left until one of the world’s best handball goalkeepers decides to quit. He belongs to a family that is said to have its best years after 30. At the same time, Andreas Palicka admits that the body takes a lot of beatings and that he has to work harder and harder to keep it in shape.
It is needed if you are to be able to make saves like the one in the World Cup semi-final against France last year, where his right foot was close to the crossbar and denied the French shooter a goal – a save that ended up in SVT-sport’s cavalcade over this year’s events.
Myself mean they have that he does not belong to the most agile goalkeepers but lives more on his explosiveness, but he also admits that he puts a lot of work into strength and agility.
– There are countless hours of work with strength training and stretching to keep muscles and tendons in these extreme positions. Then, of course, there is also a measure of genetics involved, says Palicka.
– Andreas Palicka was a ghost for the French shooters during the World Cup semi-finals in Cairo a year ago.
Photo: Mathias Bergeld / Bildbyrån
He talks about the stiffness that affects the body after a match and says that the next day he has a very hard time scoring a handball goal. Instead, it is usually a ride on the exercise bike or an easier run. He uses a so-called home roller for self-massage and runs stretching sessions.
– Over the years, I have also taken more and more treatments from physiotherapists and masseurs. The starting distance after a match is clearly longer now than ten years ago. The risk of injury is also significantly greater if you do not take care of those parts, says Palicka.
He knows better than most what a serious injury can mean.
First season as a foreign professional in Kiel, he tore his hamstring while parts of the muscles around it were destroyed. The injury kept him away from the international scene for two years. It gave him a new perspective on his sport. From having a feeling of immortality as a handball player in his teens, he realized that everything could end abruptly in the next match.
I got a clear picture of how quickly things can change.
– Honestly, I probably did not think I could play handball again. I got a clear picture of how quickly things can change. Since that day, I have taken the day more as it comes. I do not plan five years ahead, but focus on what I am going to do right now, he says and explains that it was a useful insight.
– I do not think I would have experienced the successes I had as a handball player if I had not had that adversity. Mentally, I went through something that means that not much else comes into my head when I’m on the handball court.
Andreas Miroslav Palicka was born in Lund to a Swedish mother and father from what was then Czechoslovakia. He started his handball career in YMCA Lundagård, continued in H43 and came to the handball high school in Gothenburg and Redbergslid as a 16-year-old. The years between the posts in RIK came to create strong impressions both on and off the field.
When Palicka broke the contract with the German big club Rhein-Neckar Löwen before Christmas and when a RIK that skidded in the handball league needed help, he never hesitated.
He became the victory organizer in the comeback against Malmö, where RIK took their only third win of the season.
– Andreas Palicka made a comeback in Redbergslid during the Christmas days and won the match immediately.
Photo: Mathias Bergeld / Bildbyrån
– From the first day I moved to Gothenburg, I have felt that this is my city. My wife is from Gothenburg, my family has moved here and this is where I will settle the day my career is over, he says.
What is the big difference between Andreas Palicka in RIK then and now?
– The age and the ailments, he says in a flash and then delivers a more detailed answer.
– I learned extremely much in RIK and the values around community and hard work I have had with me throughout my career. The big difference now is the experience. I have played all the big matches that can be played internationally and somehow learned to handle it. I feel comfortable with them. Then there is the smoothness. It is clear that you made good matches when you were younger, but you get smoother with the years, he says and adds that the fact that handball goalkeepers are best after 30 is hardly a myth.
The guest performance in RIK becomes short. Next season awaits games in the French big club Paris Saint-Germain. Palicka is looking forward to a new handball country, but first awaits the European Championships in Slovakia / Hungary.
– The roar of victory we got used to seeing in the national team jersey.
Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall / TT
The new, young national team with veteran Palicka as team captain has charmed two championships in a row. The World Cup gold was just a few balls away in Egypt, as was the game for the medals in the Tokyo Olympics.
– I think that the team that took World Cup silver has developed further. Players like Felix Claar and Lukas Sandell have taken further steps and we have several young players who have broken through and who have given us a breadth. Considering that we have built up this team in a short time, I think you should probably look quite positively at the future of Swedish handball, says Palicka.
The World Cup “at home” in Gothenburg in a year can be a new highlight.
Read more:
From the bench in Sävehof to the line in the national team
Ekberg after the incredible record: “Up among the legends”
Guide: European Handball Championship for men 2022 in Slovakia and Hungary