Jim Gottfridsson is banned from Olympic handball.
Then the expert Magnus Wislander comes up with a solution.
– Maybe it is, says the icon.
Sweden’s handball men have had a leaden start to this year’s Olympic tournament. In advance, Sweden was singled out as a possible gold contender, and many guessed that the team might be able to upset major nations such as Denmark and France. But so far it hasn’t looked like that.
The leaden suspension
Sweden lost the opening match, followed it up with a win against Germany – but the third match also ended in a loss against Slovenia. But that wasn’t the only nightmare message for Blågult. Key cog Jim Gottfridsson received a red card for elbowing an opponent, and afterwards “Gotte” made a so-called “loser sign”, i.e. when you form your fingers into an L on your forehead. Gottfridsson received both a red card and a blue card, which meant that he risked suspension.
On Thursday came the news that Sweden had feared. Gottfridsson is suspended for one match and thus misses Sweden’s key match against Croatia on Friday, in the penultimate round of the group stage. In addition, Felix Claar, in the same position, is injured, which means that Sweden is suddenly in a real crisis for the match that Sweden probably needs to win to have a chance of advancing in the tournament.
The unexpected words of the icon
But Magnus Wislander, national team icon and now an expert on Radiosport, believes that it does not only have to mean something negative. Instead, he believes that it may be exactly what Sweden needs to get started in the tournament.
– It is a terribly heavy message. To line up in a decisive match against Croatia without Gottfridsson and perhaps without Felix Claar (heel injury) is an incredible darkness, you may be what is needed as a wake-up call for the Swedish squad, he says.
Jim Gottfridsson wasn’t entirely convinced that his offense merited a suspension when he was asked about it right after the game.
– If it is suspension, there is a lot that could be suspension, but it is on their table now, he said.
Sweden meets Croatia and Japan in the final group stage matches. Croatia tops the group after three games played, while Japan is last with zero points.
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