It was the era of Ola Lindgren, Staffan Olsson, Stefan Lövgren, Magnus Wislander and Martin Frandesjö who are, to this day, the only five players that have won four European titles. Today, many of them have different roles, with several having moved into coaching – including Olsson, who is leading the Netherlands at the EHF EURO in Germany.
Wislander, meanwhile, won 13 medals with the Swedish national team and was also MVP at the EHF EURO 2002, World Player of the Year in 1990 and Player of the Century. He is still the most-capped Swedish player at the EHF EURO with 40 appearances, alongside Tomas Svensson, while scoring 126 European goals and has earned many more awards over his career; he was also inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame.
Wislander is commentating for Swedish radio at the EHF EURO 2024 and ahead of the third match day in Hamburg, he sat down to offer his thoughts on the tournament so far.
eurohandball.com: You've been watching Sweden from the start of the Men's EHF EURO 2024. What are your first impressions of the team?
Magnus Wislander: My first impression was they started a bit slow. They had two easy games against Bosnia and Georgia and it was not a surprise how they played these two games. In the last group game against the Netherlands, Sweden had some problems and I think the defence was not so good. Also, in the offence, the ball did not have an easy flow. I think there was also a lot of pressure in that game.
In the main round against Slovenia, it was an old Swedish school of handball - very good defence, goalkeeper and fast counter-attacks. A lot of easy goals. Sweden have two different lineups with Jim Gottfridsson and Felix Claar. They are playing a bit differently.
The lineup with Claar had some problems in the beginning against Slovenia, it was a bit slow and Sweden could not get forward. They have changed that to different lines, and with Gottfridsson having the flow and not so tight in the middle, they have used the whole court. I thought it was a very good game for the Swedish team and in the end an easy win. It was a good step forward.
Denmark are one of the best teams in the tournament, maybe France also, but Sweden are also a great team and they did a good game against Denmark. It maybe was not nice game to watch with a lot of fight, but also Sweden had to work a lot to get the goal. The Danish team made that a bit easier, I think.
What is their biggest strength compared to the other teams, something that could help them get to Cologne?
The whole team. Sweden have a lot of good players in each position, you can change and every player who gets on the court does good work. It is really the whole team, not just one player or individual quality.
How would you grade the current Swedish players in your former position (line player/centre back)?
Felix Claar and Jim Gottfridsson are among the best centre backs in the world. Handball today is now a bit different than 30, or 40 years ago. Sometimes I miss how we played, with a look of the eyes and intuition. But, the two of them have that.
Claar is good in one-on-one, while Gottfridsson is the true playmaker. Oscar Bergendahl is a very strong line player, but doesn't get the ball so much and sometimes he moves a bit slowly and they don't see. Those positions have special work together and a lot of teams have that. Also, you have a centre back to take both defensive players in the middle and tip the line player in diagonal. I think it's always the same.
I miss the pass over the head like the ones from Staffan Olsson, Stefan Lövgren, Magnus Andersson. It was a bit easier. When you watch today, there is not much defensive player can do and there are a lot of goals from the line. Even in the game against Denmark, the Danish side made it three times to Magnus Saugstrup and average defence players stand with their hands in their pockets. Perhaps, today you have to play like that in handball, but I miss that old defence – clever defensive players, with more power. Today the game is much faster.
