30.06.2014, 01:04
Danes happily admit to being favourites

FEATURE: Denmark’s rising stars are making names for themselves away from the national team and are not shy about their title ambitions in Austria

Danes happily admit to being favourites

Confidence in their own qualities is obvious among the Danish players ahead of the Men’s 20 EHF EURO 2014, a year after their triumph at the Youth World Championship.

eurohandball.com spoke to three of the key players in the optimistic Danish team before the tournament throws off in Austria on 24 July to 3 August.

FC Barcelona? Thanks, but no thanks.

Which young player would turn down an offer from FC Barcelona?

Sebastian Frandsen would. And he did.

This winter the 19-year-old goalkeeper actually turned down an offer from none other than FC Barcelona.

“I have always given match practice priority over training environment, and besides, the thought of playing in Barcelona´s reserve team in the Spanish second division did not appeal to me,” explains Sebastian Frandsen, who realised that despite his 203 cm and 101 kg frame, he was probably not exactly seen as the direct successor to Arpad Sterbik in Barcelona.

Instead he chose the Danish league club Ribe-Esbjerg HH, where he is in for his league debut when the season starts early September.

“I am really looking forward to that, and if I do well the offer may come up again, but so far I do not regret my decision,” says Frandsen, who has turned 20 in the meantime and who is preparing for the Men´s 20 EHF EURO 2014 at the moment.

“I am really looking forward to that tournament, as the current Men´s 20 vintage all over Europe is very strong, so it is really going to be a gathering of a lot of very good players.

“I our preliminary group I do not know much about Estonia, though, while I know Switzerland really well, and Serbia have we met often, so I know them well.

“I think it is a group, from which we should be able to go on, and when I look beyond the group phase, I also see us as one of the favourites, together with Sweden and Germany, but I am sure that one or two other teams will also pop up and be in the race for the title,” Frandsen admits eurohandball.com.

Champions League experience to come in useful

Another player with a lot of confidence in himself and his teammates is Simon Hald. The 19-year-old line player from Aalborg Handball goes as far as to see his team as the biggest favourites in the tournament.

“Actually, I would say that we are the biggest favourites of all the teams, but of course we should be careful not to underestimate our opponents,” says Hald, who is one of the most experienced players in the Danish team, when it comes to playing at senior level.

This past season he got a good deal of game time in the Aalborg team, in the Danish league as well as in the VELUX EHF Champions League.

“It is obvious that I can benefit from that experience in a tournament like this. The more often you stand in situations where you are under pressure, the better do you get at handling them, and I hope I can pass some of that on to the less experienced players in our team,” says the 203 cm tall line player who can look forward to an even larger responsibility in his club team in the coming season, after Jacob Bagersted has left for SC Magdeburg.

“There is no doubt that I can benefit from the EHF EURO to prepare for that task. The further we get in the tournament, the tougher will the opposition get, and there is no doubt that such tough games will be good for someone like me,” Simon Hald says.

Famous name and new club draws attention

Carrying the family name Landin will also draw attention and joining one of Denmark´s most frequently mentioned clubs, KIF Kolding København, will inevitably draw even more attention.

Therefore, Magnus Landin will probably have to live with a little extra hype around his person at the tournament.

However, the 18-year-old younger brother of Niklas Landin does not fear any additional pressure from neither being the brother of one of the world´s best goalkeepers nor from recently having signed for Kolding København.

“When you are playing a championship like this, you are in your own little dome so to speak. I believe that I am fairly good at keeping things separate, so while being in Austria I am sure I will be able to focus entirely on the championship,” says the tall left wing who does not feel any particular pressure either from the fact that national coach Claus Hansen is naming him as one of Denmark´s key players.

“I simply see myself as part of the team, and I am focusing on contributing with the qualities I can contribute with,” explain Landin, who does not hesitate to agree with Sebastian Frandsen and Simon Hald on naming his own team among the favourites.

“If Croatia had qualified, I would have seen them as tough rivals, but in their absence, I would say that Sweden and Germany, with whom we also have certain problems, are probably our toughest rivals as well as Spain perhaps.

“However, we were youth world champions last year after playing a really fine tournament, so obviously we are at least among the favourites,” concludes Landin.

TEXT: Peter Bruun / cor