It was not a fun ending to the home championship on the Swedish side. No dream final, and in the end not even a medal for the reigning European champions.
Spain managed to break down the Swedish game in the bronze medal match and despite all the high expectations, it ended up being an honorable fourth place.
– It is clear that it is very sad now, but if you look ahead, it looks extremely bright for us. We have amazingly talented young handball players who haven’t been out on the big stage for a long time, and so they make a tournament like this, right-six Niclas Ekberg told Viaplay shortly after the end of the match.
– All in all, we are doing a damn good WC tournament. There are small margins.
Initially it looked as if the end of the three-week handball festival on Swedish soil would be something extra.
The audience record for national team handball in Sweden was broken once again. 22,650 people painted the stands in Tele2 arena yellow and blue. Tommy Körberg was there and sang Stad i ljus – the song that has become the national team’s own signature tune.
Photo: Jesper Zerman/Bildyrån
And when the bronze match was kicked off it became clear that Sweden wanted to finish with the flag on top.
– It feels like we are really letting go, there are no brakes in us, Felix Claar told Viaplay during the break.
In the semi-final against France, the match plan did not work for Sweden, but against Spain it worked again. At least in the first half.
The Spaniards played aggressively and high in the defensive game, which opened gaps for the Swedish offensive. Sweden played with a completely different determination and accuracy, the speed and variation were greater. Former Alingsås players Claar and Max Darj found the interplay, with balls delivered onto the line and four early goals from six metres.
After 15 minutes, Sweden had scored as many goals as in the entire first half against France.
The edges became more involved than last time, especially on the left where Hampus Wanne showed the same fine goal form as before during the championship.
Felix Claar played up to half of Sweden’s 22 goals before the break.
– The Spanish try to read us and are not as physical as the French and it may be that it suits me a little better, he said to Viaplay during the break, when Sweden led by four goals – 22-18
Photo: Jesper Zerman/Bildbyrån
It looked to be one quite pleasant journey towards another medal for Glenn Solberg’s national team. But when the second half started, the Spaniards offered a real change of scene.
The towering 6–0 defense became an even higher standing 5–1, with Spain largely stopping Felix Claar already in the midfield with one player.
The Spaniards also changed goalkeepers and Rodrigo Corrales got a much better hit than Gonzalo Perez de Vargas got in the first 30 minutes.
Sweden found it difficult to find passing routes and only managed to score one goal in the first eight minutes of the second half.
Spain, on the other hand, set their positions, raced over and over. Halfway through the second half, it was instead a three-goal advantage for the Spaniards, who also took WC bronze two years ago.
Photo: Jonathan Näckstrand/AFP
Even though Sweden tried to catch up, it didn’t work. With two minutes remaining, a long throw towards an empty Spanish goal hit the post, and it was in many ways typical of how the game unfolded. Spain eventually won 39–36.
– They are incredibly difficult to face when they get the lead with two or three balls. Then they play so slowly, so structured. Everyone knows exactly what is going to happen, but they are effective. Today we let in 39 balls, it’s too much, says Niclas Ekberg to Viaplay.
After the final whistle the Swedish players walked half a lap of honor and thanked the home crowd. Now a year awaits without competitive matches for the Swedish part. As reigning European champions, Sweden is already qualified for the EC in Germany in a year’s time.
