(Norway-Switzerland 39–22) Henny Reistad’s national team role is growing. The 23-year-old is the captain in the Gold League. The handball girls started their journey to EC by overtaking the Swiss championship debutants.

– In my eyes, he is the best handball player in the world, says TV 2 expert Ida Alstad.

– He is complete, said Alstad, with five gold medals in the Olympics, WC and EC.

Henny Reistad didn’t need to bring out the entire arsenal in Aarhus. But when Reistad and Nora Mørk came on after 16 minutes, Norway went straight away from the Alpine country, which was playing its first play-off in November. Norway’s somewhat rusty opener at 13–7 turned into a 23–10 halftime lead.

Most recently in August, Nora Mørk was named the world’s best player by website Handball Planet.

But Nora Mørk’s voice also went to her Esbjerg team-mates.

– He is the most complete player. He has the perfect height to be a playmaker and shooter. He can go both ways and is good on defense and on the counter. He has all the prerequisites and is the best. And then he has a head. He’s a cold fish, says Mørk Television 2 and also reports “will die to be 181 cm and look like an antelope”.

So did Henny Reistad.

Stine Bredal Oftedal missed the game in Denmark due to a broken nose. Therefore Reistad is the captain. When the European Championship opens against Croatia on 4 November, he is expected to serve as co-captain in Camilla Herrem’s absence.

Reistad’s role is growing.

– It feels so good to have responsibility, he told himself. Reistad is back to fitness after a season improvement that included a back injury and a broken little finger.

A third support player, Veronica Kristiansen, has also shown herself to be an important player in EC. Györ’s profile is top scorer with seven goals. Emilie Hegh Arntzen also put in a good game with nine assists.

Norway will face tougher opponents against the Netherlands (Saturday) and Denmark (Sunday). But the handball girl gave a positive first test without the pregnant trio with 571 caps – Kari Brattset Dale, Camilla Herrem and Sanna Solberg-Isaksen.

Vilde Ingstad showed he was a hot choice as a line-up alongside successful WC Maren Aardahl. The Oslo girls were teammates with Reistad and Mørk at Esbjerg and were given the ball. Ingstad scored six goals from seven shots at Ceres Arena.

The two new left wingers haven’t got all the games in the world, but Sunniva’s Næs Andersen scored on three of his chances with a fine finish. A lot will happen if the Vipers winger isn’t in the EC squad on October 11.

Full-backs Thale Rushfeldt Deila (3 goals) and Kristina Novak (3 goals) suggest that they will be fighting for an EC spot along with midfielder Ane Cecilie Høgseth (2 goals) and left winger Rikke Øyerhamn. Thorir Hergeirsson suggested that there would be 20 players in the EC squad.

– It was great to finish today, duelist Rushfeldt Deila told TV 2.

– It is funny. Very pleasant. I think it’s going well, said a satisfied Høgseth – the youngest player in the squad at 21 years old.

Goalkeeper Marie Davidsen has progressed for Bucharest in the Champions League. With Katrine Lunde in the stands and Silje Solberg on the bench, Bergen made 18 saves. With a save percentage of 45, he was headed for his championship debut in just over a month.

EC is being held from 4 to 20 November in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro.