Norway are favorites against hosts Spain before Friday’s semi-finals. Despite many offensive misses, the Norwegian handball girls fulfill their favourites.

The big game behind the pitch meant Norway avenged a semi-final loss from 2019 against Spain and ended up winning 27-21.

– Likes to play defense

Katrine Lunde sometimes stands like a wall in goal, while Maren Aardahl plays well in defence.

– It’s really big. We are not very happy with such a game. Good defensive play and Katrine was absolutely fantastic at goalkeeping. We didn’t get enough rhythm in our attacking game. We made it a bit too complicated and then there’s a bit of nerves involved. We won, so that’s all that matters. It was great, Aardahl told NRK after the match.

– NRK commentator Patrick Rowlands calls you “God’s gift for the defense of Norway”. What do you think?

– I have to say thank you, you are very kind. That might be a bit too much. “I love playing in defense and believe that I will grow in that role as long as I gain confidence,” said the World Cup debutant.

Lunde was named the field’s best player by a local jury, and also had words of praise for the player who made his debut for the national team indoors as recently as October this year.

– I have known for a long time that he is a fantastic player. “It’s great for him that he can show off on the international stage,” Lunde told NRK.

– I think he’s very active today. “I usually think that our defence, with Kari (Brattset Dale) and Maren (Aardahl) leading, was really strong,” said Stine Bredal Oftedal.

Solid defense

Spain has historically struggled against Norway in championship matches. Spain have just four wins against Norway 21 in the meetings between them. Still Spain was the strongest the last time the teams met in the WC final was in 2019. There they won 28-22.

Earlier in the championship, the Norwegian women’s team had also held on a bit, with over 30 goals conceded against the Netherlands, Sweden and the Russian Handball Association. But against Spain, the defense and Katrine Lunde were solid.

– It was a tough game with a lot of pace, but I think we did a fantastic job. We had an incredible amount of power at our disposal today, so it was really tough in the end. You see the Spaniards too, they are very tired. We ended up wearing it. I’m very, very happy,” Lunde told NRK after the game.

When the game was over 17 minutes, Lunde had only conceded three goals. At break it was 11-11.

– Significantly better defense. Our challenge is what we do going forward, eleven goals will be too few. What we are doing right now is not good enough. We passed each other too often, concluded Oustorp.

France is waiting

After the break, it loosened more forward on the field. Nora Mørk and Henny Reistad showed their class and contributed to Norway taking the lead.

It all ended with Norway’s six-goal win. Thus, France await in the final, after they beat Denmark by one goal earlier in the day.

– This is definitely the final we wanted. These are the two best teams in the world meeting, said NRK expert Geir Oustorp.

Norway eventually won 27-21 and Mørk became Norway’s top scorer with eight goals.

• France is waiting in the final. Norway and France have met in the previous four finals, three of which ended in a Norwegian victory. The final will be played on Sunday, 17.30, and can be heard on NRK Sport.