Jim Gottfridsson misses the rest of the WC.
The Egyptian opponent who injured him is sorry.
– I suffer with him, he says.
It was only seven minutes into the quarter-final in the handball World Cup between Sweden and Egypt when Sweden was suddenly forced to hold its breath. Jim Gottfridsson caught his hand in an opponent’s shirt and immediately grimaced. He was in pain, and had to walk and sit down.
Missing the rest of the WC
Camera images were shown as Gottfridsson, the world’s best handball player and Sweden’s team captain and given leader on the field, was wrapped tightly, and it quickly became clear that he would not return to play. However, he lasted several timeouts and was on Sweden’s bench throughout the match.
Late last night came the news we feared: Gottfridsson has a fracture in his left hand, and he will be out of action for about two months, and thus also during the rest of Sweden’s World Cup tournament. They are thus forced to do without the brightest star during the semi-final against France on Friday, and in a possible final at the weekend. And it wasn’t just Swedes who were saddened by what happened.
READ MORE: The nightmare message last night: Jim Gottfridsson’s WC is over – the star’s first words after the shock injury: “Irritated”
The opponent’s greeting
Ibrahim El-Masry was the Egyptian who unintentionally injured Gottfridsson, and he was distressed afterwards. He tells Expressen that he did not intend to hurt the Swede, and that he only went for the ball. Then he sent a nice greeting to Gottfridsson.
– I hope Jim is okay. I obviously suffer with him and feel sorry for him. It wasn’t meant to hurt him, he says.
Jim Gottfridsson wrote directly about the feelings on his Instagram.
“I’m throwing in the towel this time. Annoyed, sad and disappointed. Thanks for all the support so far. Now we are doing everything to go to the WC Final!”, he writes.
Sweden-France will be played on Friday evening, starting at 21:00. In a possible final, Spain or Denmark await.
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