Atypical situation for the Danes
Unlike previous championships, Denmark are taking a rather small squad to the W17 EURO in FYR Macedonia.
Their roster is not as deep as it usually is for Danish youth teams at major championships.
“We have some real top players in our team, but we have to admit that this particular squad is not as big as we are used to having.
However, this gives us the opportunity to push our talented players even further. Those players now have even more responsibility on their shoulders and this could be a great thing,” Denmark’s head coach Heine Eriksen told ehf-euro.com.
The shortage of skilled substitutes is not the reason why the Danish coach is rather cautious about his team’s chances in the Macedonian capital.
“No, it is more due to the fact that we do not know much about our opponents, but that is normal at underage championships.
“There is no doubt, though that we have landed in a very tough group, as we will be up against three teams who all won their qualification groups.
“We have played against Hungary in a tournament in Poland recently, and that was a very tight match that convinced me that the Hungarians are definitely contenders.
Norway always have strong youth teams, and Slovenia is a another group winner from the qualifiers, so there is no doubt that we will have our work cut out for us from the start,” sounded Heine Eriksen’s prediction.
World Championship qualification as a goal
“However, it is obvious that we want very much to go on from our group, and our first goal is to finish at least among the ten best teams who all qualify for the World Championship next year,” says Heine Eriksen.
Previous performances by Danish youth and junior teams have set the expectations sky high. When Denmark play at a major championship in the younger age categories, be it men or women people expect a lot from them and this summer is no different.
“The fact that Denmark won gold at the Women’s 19 EURO in Spain earlier this summer, at the same time as the men’s U 21 team took silver at the World Championship in Brazil, has all made Danish handball fans hungry for more,”
Heine Eriksen continued.
“We have to remember that there were many youth and junior championships, where Denmark have not won any medals. Actually, we have come in seventh, ninth and 13th place in the past,” commented the experienced coach who has close to 20 youth and junior championships on his CV.
“There are so many unknown factors at a U 17 championship, because it is the first tournament of its kind for all the players, not only in our squad, but obviously for all other teams as well.
"This makes it difficult to have much of a grasp on your opponents in advance, and it is also makes it hard to predict how your players will react to the pressure and how they will cope with being away from home for so long.
“For our own team, we are together for 18 days in succession in this championship, and that is something none of these girls have tried before.
“Therefore, you are actually breaking new land every time you play a U 17 championship,” finds head coach Eriksen.
For the Danes, the championship throws off with the match against Hungary in the Boris Trajkovski arena Thursday 13. August.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / bc
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