03.10.2012, 09:59
Denmark ready for new start

Coach Pytlick admits to a long road of recovery following the disappointing 2012 Olympic Games

Denmark ready for a new start

The comeback for Denmark´s women´s national team after the disappointing performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be a long process, admits national coach Jan Pytlick in an interview with eurohandball.com.

The team did not make it past the Preliminary Round in London and since then experienced players such as goalkeeper Karin Mortensen, backcourt player Rikke Skov and line players Mette Melgaard and Louise Spellerberg have waved goodbye to the national team for various reasons.

And when Pytlick nominated his squad for the first task after the Olympics, the coming weekend´s Golden League in Aarhus, Pytlick even put other experienced women like goalkeeper Christian Nimand Pedersen and backcourt players Trine Troelsen, Camilla Dalby and Line Jørgensen on stand-by.

Instead, a bunch of young talents have been nominated for the matches against Norway, France and Russia.

eurohandball.com: What purpose does the Golden League serve for you as national coach right now?
Jan Pytlick: The tournament is a perfect opportunity for me to see a lot of promising and talented young players against the three maybe strongest teams in the world at the moment. This is a new start for us, and we are in a long process in which we are planning ahead towards the 2015 World Championship and the 2016 Olympics, and I want to test as many players as possible and to see what those talented young players can do, when they are really challenged!

eurohandball.com: Don’t you fear that those young players will be over-matched against so strong teams and get their self-confidence harmed?
Jan Pytlick: Yes, I fear that, but this is a question of telling the players what the purpose of these matches is, and that is to see how they can perform against this opposition and to see as many players as possible in action before the European Championship.

eurohandball.com: You have the Golden League and the Møbelringen Cup in Norway in November as your only preparation tournaments for the EHF EURO2012. How many players do you have time to test before that?
Jan Pytlick: I know all the players already, of course! This is a question of testing as many as possible against the strongest possible opposition. Our comeback after the Olympic disappointment will be a long project, and we have to start now, if we want Danish women´s handball back on top.

eurohandball.com: So what may people expect from this new Danish team that is thrown to the lions in Aarhus?
Jan Pytlick: You are absolutely right that they are thrown to the lions! I think people should sit back and enjoy all these young ambitious and talented players, and maybe the handball spectators are more likely to want to watch those young players than to watch the team that lost in London once again!

Further information

For more EHF EURO 2012 news go to www.ehf-euro.com

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TEXT: Peter Bruun / ts