After four initial EC victories, three of which were fairly comfortable, it was a completely different caliber of challenge that awaited Sweden on Friday evening:
Denmark with three straight World Cup golds, 14 consecutive championship matches without a loss and to top it all with the support of thousands of red and white fans who had made the short trip to Hamburg.
Even before kick-off, it was clear that Denmark had won the grandstand match by knockout.
On the field, it was instead a tight and intense slugger party, just as tough and sharp as you could have guessed in advance.
Target party
If Sweden’s last match against Slovenia was a master class in goalkeeping and defense, this was something completely different. Swedes and Danes scored in almost every attack and were tied at 12-12 without more than one goal ever separating the teams.
When the shock came, it was Denmark who was responsible. Emil Nielsen came in from the bench and was more fortunate than Niklas Landin had been between the posts. And forward, Mathias Gidsel – who many consider to be the world’s best handball player at the moment – had a couple of fun minutes as Denmark ran away to a 16-12 lead.
– We can’t stop Gidsel. He is a world-class player, but for him to score ten goals in eleven shots is a bit too good for us, says Gottfridsson.
The stands were boiling, the reigning European champions were under pressure.
In with Palicka
Sweden stopped the bleeding, was “only” behind by 15-17 at the break and threw Andreas Palicka into the goal after Tobias Thulin had a struggling first half.
For a while, the deficit was only one goal, but Sweden never managed to equalize. Instead, it sped away to another four-goal lead for Denmark, this time 28–24 with less than seven minutes left to play.
But if there’s one thing you should have learned, it’s that this blue-and-yellow national team never allows themselves to be counted out. With three minutes left, Hampus Wanne shot 27-28 – and so the heavyweight meeting got the final drama it deserved.
Albin Lagergren had a chance to equalise, but Nielsen saved. Less than two minutes to go, good advice dear.
“Getting Robbed”
An expulsion of Max Darj made the situation more difficult. Magnus Landin looked to make it 29-27 and kill the game, but the goal was disallowed.
Sweden got one last chance, 17 seconds and one last attack. Oscar Bergendahl found the net, but also had his goal disallowed.
– We have to go to the judges to correct them that they made a mistake and then we get robbed, says Gottfridsson to Viaplay.
– The judges claim that Hampus (Wanne) is inside. I’ll take it easy and not say too much, but it feels very strange.
Next up is Portugal on Sunday. Then Sweden can hardly afford another loss.