Faroese fairytale written in Basel

In round 2 of group D on Sunday afternoon, the Faroe Islands stunned Croatia with a 17:17 draw at the Women's EHF EURO 2024 with the roar of more than 300 devoted fans behind them. The youngest team in the competition, alongside North Macedonia, came to Basel with nothing but dreams and will return home proving that sometimes, the impossible is possible.

For line player Pernille Brandenborg, their achievement on Sunday evening in St. Jakobshalle was almost unexplainable.

“We are over the moon happy. I think it feels like a victory even though it was not. We wrote history coming here and now we wrote it again by getting a point,” Brandenborg says.

Her teammate and Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, goalkeeper Annika Frídheim Petersen, knew they knew they would need to perform beyond their limits, which they did.

“We dreamed of points, but we knew that we would have to give an extra push to make it happen. And that's what we did against Croatia. I just kept thinking about the next ball. We have worked on having the focus on the net thing and not the surroundings or what has happened. I was just focused on helping my team,” Frídheim Petersen says.

The game itself was a rollercoaster of emotions, but also full of hasty attacks and above all, good saves. The Faroe Islands were trailing or level throughout the game, with Croatia leading by three goals at the most. However, in the closing stages, the Faroese spurred a 2:0 goal run and got their hands on their first lead, at 17:16, when Brandenborg netted her fourth goal in the game.

“I was thinking just breathe. Try to keep calm and stay on what we agreed on. We all did a fantastic job in our defence and Annika, our goalkeeper was amazing, then Rakul (Wardum) came and saved the penalty which gave us new energy. We burned some shots in the attack, but we kept going,” Brandenborg says about the crucial moments.

The bravery and commitment of the players was visible already in the first game against Switzerland. In the game against Croatia, they pushed boundaries and showed courage.

“Our young players got onto the court and got their chance — like our youngest player (Anna Elisabeth Halsdóttir Weyhe) also took an important penalty in the end and hit the post. It's so cool she dared, no matter what she missed — all of us in that game dared to do something and that's the most important thing,” Brandenborg says.

Even though the players produced an incredible performance, they all agree on one thing — nothing would be possible without the amazing support they have in Basel from their fans.

“The atmosphere is just amazing. I felt like they were the ones lifting us throughout the whole match. They were the energy we needed to get to this point and I'm so grateful that all these people travelled here. I'm touched and we owe them,” says Brandenborg.

“You can't help but hear them. It's just a special emotion. When the match was over, and when we ran to them to celebrate this historic moment, I started crying. Their support means so much,” says Frídheim Petersen with a big smile on her face. And it is hard not to smile after saving 17 shots at 55 per cent save efficiency, while at the same time being the competition's second-best goalkeeper by percentage.

Looking back at January 2024 when the men's national team wrote history with a 26:26 draw with Norway in round 2 of the preliminary round, the Faroese women did not even think they would achieve the same later in the year.

“I didn't know if we could do it. We hoped so of course, and when we knew we would go to the European championship we joked a bit about it — they got a point, we should get two then. We wanted those two points against Croatia, but if you had told us before the game we would have it, we would be happy with it,” says Frídheim Petersen.

Beyond just games and enjoying their time at the Women's EHF EURO, both Brandenborg and Frídheim Petersen hope this will inspire people of the Faroe Islands to never lose their hopes and to show them, they too can dream big.

“It's the beginning of a fairytale, I hope. A lot of young players and other players who love handball now get to have some dreams and hopes, something to look up to,” says Brandenborg.

Frídheim Petersen adds: “This is really important. I am proud that we are able to show to the young girls in the Faroe Islands that even though we are a country with less than 55,000 people, that you can still deliver and make big things on a world scale. To give them a hope their dreams can also come true, that they can go and do it.“

The Faroe Islands won people's hearts in 2024 — and their story has just begun.

Photos © EHF/kolektiff