The Danish håndboldkvinder has played many great matches since their breakthrough in the early 1990s.
But Friday’s thriller against France is one of the most important in my opinion.
It may sound easier crazy, when you think about how many finals håndboldkvinderne has played in the period of the WORLD cup, european championships and the OLYMPICS.
the Facts are, however, that the lack of Danish advancement to mellemrunden will be one of the biggest failures in the last three decades. And particularly worrying is the tsunami of questions and uncertainty it will bring.
the Entire project with Klavs Bruun Jørgensen will suffer a serious setback. Players can travel from it? Rediscover the faith? May national coach? Or does he seriousness of his statements that he might retire if the team did not come in mellemrunden?
What with the Danish Handball Federation – they will switch out on landstrænerposten?
If Klavs Bruun withdraws or is asked to leave, throw the last five years of work out the window and go another way?
If you if you fail an OLYMPICS participation for the second time in a row, what makes the Team of Denmark with economic support to the DHF? Reduces the the and weakens the Danish handball significantly?
If it is not the case, DHF and Team Denmark so defend to continue to share aid equally between the women and the successful men?
If one misses the OLYMPICS-qualification, one is surely forced to look towards the WORLD cup on home soil in 2023 and the OLYMPICS in 2024 as the next big target? It means that you must ‘sell’ EM at home next year? Even though it’s a EM, where in the degree of use for the Danish success in order to breathe some life and popularity into Danish western christianity and most again?
If you need to tear things down and build a new team up again, which makes it so central players, as for example, Stine Jørgensen, Sandra Toft, Stine Bodholt, Lotte Grigel and Trine Østergaard? Is it so goodbye and thank you to the team for them? For even more?
to put it in perspective, then it only happened once in the past, since the success took off in 1993, Denmark has not gone on to mellemrunden at a WORLD cup or european championship.
if a pool with France, Germany, south Korea and Brazil belong to the difficult ones, so ought to the sadness not be repeated for this WORLD cup, it was supposed that we should see the preliminary culmination of small five years of work under Klavs Bruun. Certainly not after an ideal preparation, where the team has been spared of injuries and talked about the great progress both on and off the field.
Nevertheless, you were on the verge of a knockout, which can end up to put the Danish western christianity and most several years back.
Denmark is no longer a world-class nation, it should be gradually gone up for most people, but we simply must, as a minimum, be able to require that the national team can squeeze into the top 12 in the world.
the Pressure is therefore solid in the national team, and it does not bode well, for we have to do with a group of players, who have a tradition not to perform when the pressure is greatest. The requirement for a victory against France’s world and european champions available well not larger. Or worse. Also although France has fluctuated tremendously so far at this WORLD cup.
And as if the pressure to avoid a humiliating exit is not enough in itself, so have the players in recent days had to relate to how a defeat can end up with Klavs Bruun to withdraw, if we are to believe the opinion he came with in the fall.
I feel convinced, that it is not beneficial to the Danish players, they have had to use focus to speculate in landstrænerens future – nor does it is positive, if they use just a single second in Friday’s match to think about, that they potentially faced with landstrænerens fate in the hands.
I would wager that Klavs Bruun is tremendously tired of that he got formulated in such a way in the autumn. It is important to remember, that he puts a subject into his statements – he says he can’t ‘imagine’ themselves to continue, if not move on from the mellemrunden, or he is not able to move the team.
Now you can, at any time, ’imagine’ things in a new way, and both the players and national coach talks about the team today is a much better place both mentally and spillemæssigt, so will l. the could certainly argue for it to continue.
But no matter what, it has created a totally unnecessary focus up against so ultravigtig a fight. Both national coach and for the players.
I’m with you on that it is a gloomy picture, I’m a painter before a single handball match in the initial group. In this case it’s just more complex than that, and there can be triggered a domino effect, which can have severe consequences.
of course, It could also be that the players just goes in and shows us that there was a bottom in the optimism before the WORLD cup, put France on the place and do my scepticism to shame.
I hope for Danish håndbolds sake. But I have my doubts.
Søren Paca
Håndboldkommentator on BT Sport. Is also the author of the book ‘the golden age – 25 years of Danish håndboldhistorie’. I’ve covered the Danish and international handball since 2009. Born and raised in the midwest, but live in the day in Frederiksberg. According to my birth certificate I am 34 years old.
