 'Give us Spain in the EHF EURO final' says Christensen
If Morten Stig Christensen, General Secretary of the Danish Handball Federation, could write the script for EHF EURO 2014, Denmark would be meeting Spain in the final on home soil – and win it.
"That would be the perfect scenario from my point of view," Morten Stig Christensen said in an exclusive interview with eurohandball.com.
While the Danish players are still licking their wounds after the 19:35 defeat to hosts Spain at the World Championship final on Sunday (27 January), there is general content within the federation regarding the achievements in Spain.
"If we do not include the final which was simply inexplicable, we are very happy with the way the team performed," Christensen said.
"Our national coach Ulrik Wilbek really managed to make the team peak, and at the same time he managed to rest the players who needed to rest – Mikkel Hansen in particular.
"The semi-final against Croatia (30:24 for Denmark, ed.) stands for me as one of the most perfect matches in all aspects of the game that I have ever seen a Danish national team perform," Christensen told eurohandball.com.
"Therefore, I am also sure that our team will rise soon after the big defeat in the final.
"After that match our Croatian and Spanish colleagues told us: 'Do not think of this final, we did not see the real Denmark. You have left 22 teams behind you, and you are still one of the absolutely best teams in the world.'
"I am sure that our players will also realise this, when they have had the necessary time to recover from the disappointment," Christensen added.
"Now we can go for gold at home"
In many other departments, the tournament in Spain was a success for Danish handball.
“Our Facebook page got more than 128,000 likes during the tournament, and the TV ratings on our matches were also fantastic.
"Our performance has also boosted the interest ahead of EHF EURO 2014 – not only in Denmark, but also outside the country.
"Looked at from that point of view, silver was a good result this time, as we have all the time been regarding EHF EURO 2014 on home soil as the tournament where our team should really peak. Now we can really go for gold at home," Christensen said.
EHF EURO 2014 will only be the second men's handball championship at a senior level that Denmark hosts. The first one was the 1978 World Championship when Denmark finished fourth. Back then Morten Stig Christensen was among the players in the Danish team.
"I have been telling all our players what a fantastic thing it is to play a major championship in your own country.
"As far as I remember, we were only 12 players in the team back then. That means that only 12 Danish handball players have had this unique experience so far. Therefore I have told all our older players to go on fighting to be a part of this next year."
And that brings Christensen back to his dream of a revenge against Spain in the final in Denmark in a year's time.
“If I had free hands to write the script for the tournament, my dream scenario would be another final between Denmark and Spain – this time with Denmark lifting the trophy when it's over.
"However, there will undoubtedly be other teams who want to have a say in that matter. I imagine Croatia to be very eager to finally be on top of the podium, and France may make some changes in their team and be back in the absolute top," Morten Stig Christensen told eurohandball.com.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / ts
|
