The story behind the underdogs' miracle in Berlin

With three minutes to go on the clock on Saturday night in Berlin, the Norwegians were leading by three goals, but the Faroe Islands' determination to write history resulted in an incredible comeback in the final 180 seconds to draw 26:26.

The result came after coach Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen implemented an extremely brave seven-on-six approach in attack throughout the match, but according to him, it was the only option for the Faroese to do the unthinkable and get points off Norway.

"You could say that it's a brave approach, but we don't really like the braveness only, because we like to be brave if it makes sense and it does makes sense,” Bredsdorff-Larsen explains.

“We have great players, of course with Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu as a playmaker, he was in making this decision too. We have a common feeling that we could do something with seven-on-six. We knew in other games against Iceland and also Romania, games that we have played against top opponents, that we have the competitive edge playing seven-on-six because our passing game is outstanding.

“It's not a decision I only take by myself, it's a decision which we take on as a team and we have a lot of confidence in each other and we play marvellous seven-on-six," says Bredsdorff-Larsen.

The 56-year-old points out that the Faroese perfectly executed their game plan even without a huge amount of rotation, but the massive support from the stands gave the squad wings to fly.

"I wasn't a big fan when I was introduced (to seven-on-six) and maybe I'm still not a fan, but working with the Faroe Islands' players I think that now I'm a fan,” the coach adds. “We play an amazing seven-on-six and we have introduced something for the handball world that you are even able to go one-on-one in seven-on-six.

“Nobody else does it, but we do and we are happy. We managed to do it with such a small amount of playing force and such an amount of trust in ourselves. Also, we made only six playing fouls during the game which is amazing," says Bredsdorff-Larsen.

When asked about what he told the players during the last timeout in the dying seconds, the coach relives again the unforgettable moments.

“I must say when you are down and they have a timeout with 12 seconds on the clock, I was very sad for my team because I also saw that Norway didn't perform well for once in a while. And we saw that Serbia the other day threw the whole thing away in the end,” Bredsdorff-Larsen says, referring to the similar game in group C where Iceland forced a last-second draw after trailing Serbia in the closing stages of the game.

“So, how Norway did not manage to make a couple of passes and throw the ball to the corner, I don't know. But we only planned one thing and that was to go for the guy who has the ball and we did that. Elias was clever enough to get the ball and we needed a little bit of luck, but it's crazy that it happened. It's not undeserved, I think it was well deserved because we had a feeling that we could win with seven minutes to go," adds Bredsdorff-Larsen.

The highly-rated centre back, Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu, was at the heart of the Faroe Islands' historic achievement as the 21-year-old stole the ball in the dying seconds and converted the penalty afterwards to write his name with golden letters in the history books. As EHF commentator Paul Bray emotionally said during the hectic final moments of the game: "The hopes of a nation rest on his young shoulders."

"I don't think much went through my head, I just tried to focus on scoring and I had a few moments before the shot where it was a little break where I could breathe in and took the shot. At first, I was disappointed and annoyed that we didn't get a free shot, but it was the right thing to give the penalty. As I steal the ball, they try to get it back and hit me from the side, that's the rule in the last 30 seconds when it's a penalty," says á Skipagøtu.

The THW Kiel player thinks the moment could change Faroese handball forever and impact future generations.

"We have shown that we can play against the best, against Slovenia and Norway and that means a lot. We are a small country and when we are playing on the court, everything is possible," believes á Skipagøtu.

Finally, the Faroe Islands are still with a chance of making further history. Even a win against Poland would be another moment for the record books, but a big enough victory combined with a big loss for Norway against Slovenia could see them progress to the main round, where surely their 5,000 fans would follow.

However, even without that, Bredsdorff-Larsen says the attention of the handball world – and further afield – has been caught by the Faroese fairytale.

"I received a crazy amount of congratulations and it's from all other sports like hockey and football too, and from close and not so close people and it's very nice to feel the attention that the Faroe Islands are getting at the moment and it's well deserved,” he says.

“I would say that you would look a bit strange if you are in the Faroe Islands at the moment. I've heard about fear of missing out by not going to Berlin, but I don't think they have space for more ferries," jokes Bredsdorff-Larsen, before turning his attention to the question of how to beat Poland.

Photos © Kolektiff Images