(Sweden-Cape Verde 34–27) Swedish gold favorite Glenn Solberg won his second World Cup game in championship handball at home in front of a crowd of 11,750 – after sweeping Cape Verde off in the first half.
However, after the win, Sweden star Jim Gottfridsson was “cursed”, for what they showed – or didn’t show – in the second half.
– I don’t want to say worried, kinda damned, he answered a question about whether he was – worried – about Sweden’s game in the last 30 minutes.
– When we offer a good first half, we can offer at least an equally good second half. Especially for the public. Man we win by as much as possible, added Gottfridsson.
Sweden won theirs opening match 26–18 over Brazil.
After 30 minutes into the second half, they took a 19–8 lead over Africa’s Cape Verde at Scandinavium in Gothenburg.
– We’re much safer with the ball. The defense is highly coordinated now. “My feeling is that we feel much safer,” said Sweden’s five-goal scorer Hampus Wanne Aftonbladet.
Swedish successful coach from Norway Glenn Solberg allowed goalkeeper Andreas Palicka to start from the bench. He played well against Brazil in the premiere. His successor, Mikael Appelgren, is clearly not going to allow himself to appear weaker than his partner. The 33-year-old saved everything early on, and was heavily involved in Sweden quickly taking an 11-2 lead.
– Fantastic first half. Almost perfect. We are very happy with that, said Norway Sweden national team manager Glenn Solberg.
Cape Verde sensationally won the second half, but Sweden won by seven goals in the end.
– In the second half, we did almost everything we shouldn’t have done. We lost a lot of concentration. We are not fully connected in the “brain office”. But we won the game, and that’s the main goal, said Jim Gottfridsson.
Sweden’s next match at the World Cup is against Uruguay on Monday.
Norway faces Argentina in the second group stage game on Sunday. It was played in Krakow. Sander Sagosen & co. open the toilet with a 12-goal win over North Macedonia.
Iceland – an outsider among gold challengers – lost by two goals (28-30) to Hungary on Saturday night.
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