Sweden enter the EHF EURO as one of the main medal contenders. But in their opening match they face a team that has caused them problems before – something both players and staff in the Swedish camp are well aware of.
“It’s a nasty match to start with,” Lukas Sandell tells GoHandball.
Sweden are expected to field their strongest possible lineup (provided no one picks up an injury in the final training session or falls ill). And compared to Michael Apelgren’s first championship in charge a year ago, the conditions now appear completely different. Or as Apelgren himself puts it when asked by the media to compare then and now:
“I think it’s about a thousand times better now – at the risk of that becoming a quote…”
“We’ve built something now. We have agreements in place in terms of behaviour and structure, and we’ve had time to process how this group of people wants to work together. That means when we stand here in front of you, or in front of a full arena, there’s a lot more security behind it. Last championship, we were thrown straight into it, and when things started going badly, we didn’t have that foundation to fall back on. That’s a big difference. But how the matches end will still often come down to the last ten minutes, as it usually does in a Euros.”
It was close two years ago
The Netherlands will be anything but a walk in the park. A tricky team with a very high ceiling, they caused Sweden major problems when the sides met in Germany at the Euros two years ago. Both Dutch players and Sweden head coach Staffan Olsson have spoken about the Netherlands having nothing to lose.
“If we look at the 2024 match, that’s exactly how it played out. The Netherlands were leading against us in the 56th minute, then Palicka came on and made four or five outstanding saves, and we managed to win by one goal. The feeling in that match was very much that they played like a team with nothing to lose. That will be the tricky part this time as well – we want to turn that psychological challenge around. At the same time, we’ll get a lot of energy and joy from the crowd, and that will help us,” Apelgren says.
So what makes the Netherlands such a dangerous and awkward opponent?
“The big thing with the Netherlands is that they are extremely good and unpredictable going forward. They can score goals against any team in the world. Luc Steins is the starting centre back at PSG for a reason, and it’s easy to feel pretty useless when he whistles past you or when they pull off something clever. For us, it’s about just continuing to grind and do our thing. We’ve talked a lot about that being our identity – to keep pushing. We have many good players and can run teams down over time.”
Lukas Sandell echoes Apelgren’s thoughts, pointing out that this is a team capable of beating anyone on a good day.
“They are very skilful, especially Luc Steins and Dani Baijens, and they have a lot of tricks up their sleeve. That’s why you have to be prepared, and that’s a big job we’ve done. We know what we have to do. But an opening match is an opening match – there will be nerves, adrenaline and all of that. So it’s a nasty match to start with,” Sandell concludes.