Each primary championship inevitably raises questions about the favorites, memories of those who stood out the most in the last edition and those who evolved to create a promising possibility of greater functionality than the last time.
There are four core powerhouses that have stood at the top of men’s handball in the last years: current EHF EURO title holders Sweden, three-peat world champions Denmark, Olympic title holders France, and the 2020 and 2018 European champions Spain, who all featured in the semi-finals at the last EHF EURO, the 2018 edition and the 2023 and 2021 World Championships.
This was also close to the semi-final line-up at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — only Sweden were missing from the top four. Such a dominant record puts these four as “no brainer” favourites at the Men’s EHF EURO 2024.
So, the first genuine question for the men’s EHF EURO 2024 is which team has a chance of disappointing this bastion in the semi-finals?On paper, the first response has to be Iceland: a team that narrowly missed both semi-finals. years ago in the match between Hungary and Slovakia, it is made up of huge individual talents who have done nothing but enjoy themselves since the last European Championship and, in some cases, have an idea of what it means to triumph and win a first final, and who made it to the final in Germany with no injuries or primary absences to worry about. As Aron Pálmarsson says: “no injuries, no excuses”.
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Gisli Kristjansson, MVP of TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2023, reflecting on what the team may know from the two years since they made headlines at the most recent European Championship, says: “We have all progressed in terms of experience. Let’s enjoy more in our groups where we play week in and week out. Hopefully we will be informed since the last tournament, the World Championship, that anything can happen. We just have to be focused. Nothing ends until the game ends.
As for the World Championships, Kristjansson notes that the team also narrowly missed out on advancing to the knockout stages, as they finished third in their main circular organization, with the top two advancing, but struggled with second-placed Hungary. . . Iceland’s elimination before the quarter-finals was due to a loss to Hungary in the opening round.
At the men’s EHF EURO 2022, Iceland swept their organisation from the start and their major winning record included the biggest win at the EURO against France, even with the Nordic team seriously depleted due to Covid-19.
They were undone by a loss to Denmark and a loss to Croatia, as well as France’s one-goal win over Denmark on the final day of the main round. Had Denmark obtained this victory, Iceland would have reached the semi-finals.
Two very near misses at the two most recent major championships left Iceland with a lot of important lessons and no doubt eager to achieve what seems well within reach – although they will not say they target the podium and are determinedly focused on one step at a time. Every game like it is a final.
“We’ll see how the game goes. Many of us have dreams and desires, but this only comes true if we play both games as if it were the last,” says Kristjansson, adding that the opening attack against Serbia is “definitely an important piece for the ongoing tournament. “
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In handball, in sport, before victories come defeats. After the misleading reports of the past few years, the Icelandic team’s mentality is now exactly where it wants to be to improve the recipe.
“You always learn something,” says coach Snorri Guðjónsson, reflecting on how he sees the team’s road since the EHF EURO 2022. A former player for the national side himself, and part of their biggest achievements in that time, Guðjónsson took the helm as head coach in the summer of 2023.
“I think the players want to be more established – be more and often part of the top teams. But it’s a long tournament. It’s a lot of great teams. We are in a tough group, so we just try to stay focused and not think that much what will happen. In the beginning you just need to perform. We need to be ready in the first games, and, if not, we are on the way home.”
After Serbia, Iceland will face Montenegro then Hungary to end their preliminary round campaign.
Perhaps the collective mentality has suffered somewhat ahead of EHF EURO 2024 and naturally there have been some changes on the pitch as well.
“There are changes. But I’m not rebuilding a team, that’s not what it’s about. Perhaps by simply pressing a few buttons; play a little faster. We play competitive handball, there’s no doubt about that. For me, like “I’m a new coach, the old coach was my national team coach, so I knew and knew from before that I was going to get into the rhythm of the smart stuff. So it’s more about tweaking a few things and maybe betting a little bit quicker,” Guðjónsson said.
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Although Guðjónsson is rarely rebuilding the team, Pálmarsson says the coach has introduced new concepts that the team fully agrees with, and “faster” turns out to be the main theme.
“He needs to run a little bit more, play a little bit faster. And then some new things in our attack that I wouldn’t possibly share,” Pálmarsson says with a laugh.
Centre back Janus Smarason adds: “We’re ready to take one step further as a team. Our tempo and counter attacks should hopefully be improving. I think we have something to fetch there. Otherwise, just getting better every game as a team. Hopefully in the end it’s good enough.”
Smarason is part of the Icelandic team that had the joy of celebrating a foreign club trophy last year, along with Kristjansson and Omar Ingi Magnusson, all three playing for SC Magdeburg. Kristjansson was named MVP of the EHF FINAL4 2023 after winning the EHF Champions League trophy with the German club.
Prior to a season-ending injury, Magnusson played a key role in Magdeburg’s early crusade on their way to the Champions League title, while Smarason joined the squad over the summer, in time to win the IHF Super Globe with Magdeburg in November.
Kristjansson certainly has fond memories of the venue where the EHF EURO 2024 final was held and the home of the EHF FINAL4 Men, the LANXESS Arena, as does Pálmarsson, who won 3 Champions League titles in his career.
Pálmarsson and goalkeeper Björgvin Pall Gustavsson were on the pitch with coach Guðjónsson during Iceland’s EHF EURO result: the bronze medal in 2010. Since then, the team has not reached the semi-finals of any competition. Will the EHF EURO 2024 be an end to the long wait?The answer will come step by step.
Photos © Uros Hocevar, Jure Erzen, Jozo Cabraja / kolektiff
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