According to Kaj Kek, the top sports director of the Handball Association, Finland’s place in the competition requires that Finnish players qualify for foreign leagues.
SpongeBob Forsberg,
Petri Sjöblom
You can watch the European Championship qualifying match between Finland and Hungary on TV2 and Areena from 3:50 p.m. You can follow the match by clicking on the image above.
The brothers are among the main players of the Finnish men’s national handball team Max and Robin Granlund took new steps in their career this season, when they moved from Sweden to the German 2nd Bundesliga.
The German second league is considered the fourth best handball league in the world. A professional environment helps you develop as a player.
– Training is professional all the time. There is a lot of physical and handball training. The tempo is usually quite fast. In Germany, you can see how big a sport handball is there. Every small village has a handball team, explains Max Granlund, who represents VfL Eintracht Hagen.
– The culture of the sport is different, and handball is a huge deal in every city there. You have to go one step at a time. Now we’re there and it’s a really tough series. Let’s see what we can do, says Robin Granlund, who plays for Bergischer HC.
Top sports director of the Handball Association Kaj Kekki believes that the brothers will do well in Germany, as long as they get to play the first season in the new series.
– It will certainly help them a lot in their careers, and thereby help Finnish handball at the national team level, Kekki says.
Finland has never made it to the prestigious handball championships through the qualifiers. According to Kek, the competition venue is closer every year.
– Maybe a few more years of academy activities are needed to get more players abroad. Players are constantly leaving us for better and better leagues, says Kekki.
– In practice, we have budgeted so much for the top sports strategy that by 2028 we will have secured two final tournament spots. I think our men’s national team is the second one that comes close to that.
Strong resistances
Finland continues the European Championship qualifiers on Sunday, when they face Hungary, the group’s pre-favorite.
In their opening match, Finland held Montenegro, a multiple prize tournament visitor, tight, but ultimately succumbed to a 28–29 defeat.
Max Granlund believes that an even fight against a stronger opponent will give the team confidence for the upcoming qualifiers.
– Nobody thought we could win, but it was close. We were able to come back many times and the game was tight. A really good away match, says Robin Granlund.
– If you compare to other national teams, all the players in them are full professionals. I think we have opportunities if we continue in this direction, hard to say, says Max Granlund.
In the second stage of the European Championship qualifiers, eight groups of four teams are played, the best two from each of which advance to the final tournament. In addition, the four best three in the group get a place in the competition.
Robin Granlund reminds that in order to get to the games, you have to score points against tough teams.
– The competition venue is no longer a whim. We showed that we can do it if we keep our package together for 60 minutes and don’t give up. Then everything is possible, Robin Granlund believes.