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The EC may end before the end of the group match for two players from the Norwegian national team.
KOLDING (Nettavisen): Norway kicks off their European Handball Championship when Poland, led by former Storhamar coach Arne Senstad, meet in Kolding on Thursday night.
Norway is the favorite of bookmakers and experts to win the entire championship, but there is one thing that creates some uncertainty, says former men’s national team coach Gunnar Pettersen.
– Definitely unsafe
Against Poland, it is Emily Stang Sando and Rikke Granlund who make up Norway’s goalkeeping team, in the absence of the crowned Silje Solberg.
Read also: React only to referees in the European Championship: – A mockery of women’s handball
On Thursday, the coach of the national team, Thorir Hergeirsson, was able to reveal to Nettavisen that Solberg finally tested negative and that he can therefore arrive in Denmark this weekend, if all goes well. Naturally, Solberg hasn’t trained in recent weeks.
At the same time, Katrine Lunde has joined the service and joins the squad on Saturday.
The situation is not optimal for the goalkeepers already in Kolding, says Gunnar Pettersen, who is an expert TV 3 commentator during the championship.
A week ago, Sandbo and Granlund, who had a great game against Denmark, thought it was the two of them who should stand up. And that, in the best case, Silje Solberg will finally come down. That has changed and now Katrine Lunde has signed up. There will certainly be uncertainty between the two. Where are we really? Are we involved at all and for how long are we involved? Pettersen tells Nettavisen.
Also read: Silje Solberg has tested negative
Hergeirsson: – Rikke’s role has changed
The coach of the national team, Thorir Hergeirsson, believes, however, that the goalkeepers who are in place in Kolding are so professional that they handle the situation well.
– We have full confidence in them. They start the championship, then we have known all the way, after Katrine volunteered, that she will come and help here in some role, Hergeirsson tells Nettavisen.
– As for Silje, she is not available to us now, so the roles are quite clear. It is Emily (Sando) and Rikke (Granlund) who will face at least Poland and Germany. And they should stand as long as is best for the team. They have been understanding their roles for quite some time.
This means that Rikke Granlund, in particular, is in danger of having to pack his bags and leave the European Championship squad when new goalkeepers arrive in Kolding.
– Rikke’s role in particular has changed since we brought the team out, but that’s the game. It is about solving the role that has been assigned to you at a given time. The goalkeepers down here are a team, and the team is strong, Hergeirsson told Nettavisen even before it was known that Solberg had taken a negative test.
It is open for changes of two players in each of the three phases of the championship and six in total. Also, any player infected with a crown can be replaced without going to the original quota.
Sando: – He focuses on me
Emily Stang Sando, who has probably guarded the goal from the beginning against Poland, is clear that she is focusing on her tasks, although she is fully aware of reality.
– It’s there, but I just have to focus on myself and what I can do when I enter the field. I prepare as I do at the club and I am ready to play from the beginning already against Poland, says Sando to Nettavisen.
– There will be some disturbing thoughts if you think about it. They come when they come, so I have to focus on myself, Sando continues.
However, he is aware that the entry of Silje Solberg and Katrine Lunde into the EC team will only have a positive effect.
– It will only strengthen our team of goalkeepers. The two in question have a fair amount of experience, so I only see it as positive anyway, says Sando.
Pettersen: – The only thing that makes me insecure
Gunnar Pettersen believes that Katrine Lunde in her prime is the best goalkeeper in the world and says that he uses her as a role model when coaching male players. Now, however, you see some question marks.
– She has not completely returned to the level she was before she was injured. She is a Katrine Lunde who also has a bit of uncertainty around the goalkeeping profession, but she has a lot of respect for her rival, of course, and that is not stupid.
– I have great faith that Norway will win the European Championship. The only thing that has left me a little unsure is the situation of the goalkeeper, says Pettersen.
When asked which Norwegian player he predicts for an international breakthrough at the European Championship, he still points to Emily Stang Sando.
– If she was one of the Norwegian squad, then it must be her, if you take as a starting point what she has done in the Champions League, and the self-confidence that she probably won after the match against a good Danish team. So it remains to be seen how long he can be with her, says Pettersen.
The return leg in the match between Norway and Poland is at 8.30pm on Thursday.
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