The third quarter-final of the day provided the third thrilling finish as Denmark did just enough to survive their toughest test of Paris 2024, beating Sweden 32:31 thanks to Simon Pytlick’s 9 goals, Emil Nielsen’s late saves and a penalty claim being waved away.
Felix Claar returned to the squad amid fears that his Olympic was over with a heel injury. With five goals in the tournament to date and his form not up to scratch, it was a small surprise to see him in the starting seven for this game.
But no better way to find out if he’s up to the task, I suppose. And it turns out he was as he looked back to his old self, doubling his goal tally in the first half alone.
Sweden looked alive and up for the task but it didn’t take long for Denmark to settle into a rhythm and string together an 8:2 run to lead by four at the quarter-hour mark.
Holding firm
We’re used to seeing them power on from there and leave their opponents for dust but this Sweden team, for all their inconsistencies, are not in the business of being run over by Denmark. They worked their way back into the game with a few big Palicka saves and turnovers to take a momentary lead and a 16:16 draw at the break.
Denmark’s high line in defence wasn’t troubling the Swedes too much, with Claar, Gottdridsson and Sandell enjoying the space to run into. The introduction of Emil Nielsen in goal wasn’t offering too much, so Denmark relied heavily on Simon Pytlick in attack to keep them afloat.
Penalty missed and a missed penalty
As we approached the final few minutes, the momentum began to shift a little. The score was still tight but it looked like Denmark couldn’t miss, while Sweden needed something special to get over the line.
Something special did happen with a minute left to play as Mikkel Hansen missed a penalty. He smacked it off the crossbar to leave the door open for a Swedish equaliser. Oscar Bergandahl had the chance, he was looking for a penalty but Magnus Landin let him go and trusted Emil Nielsen to make the match-winning save.
The Swedes screamed for a penalty but their pleas fell on deaf ears and it was Denmark who held on to win another classic contest and progress to Friday’s semi-finals.
While we saw the end of one legend’s career this afternoon, Mikkel Hansen’s lives to fight another few days.