Iceland dream of first Women’s EHF EURO points

They narrowly lost the game 25:27, despite a brilliant defence and a stellar performance from goalkeeper Elin Jona Thorsteinsdottir, who was awarded Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, after 15 saves. Iceland were closer than ever to their very first point at an EHF EURO final tournament.

The Icelandic women’s team have participated at the EHF EURO final tournament twice before, in 2010 and 2012. Both times before they finished 15th out of 16 participants, and lost all matches. Now it is their big dream to end this series after now seven consecutive defeats on Sunday, facing Ukraine in group F in Innsbruck (20:30 CET, live on EHFTV).

“I really hope that we give it all on Sunday and get the first point for Iceland, this would make me and whole Iceland very, very proud,” said Thorsteinsdottir.

Iceland lost the last two matches against Ukraine in 2011 and 2012 by one and two goals respectively. Ukraine were defeated by Germany 30:17 on Friday.

“When you look at the squad, the ranking and everything, there's an extra focus on this match on Sunday,” says experienced right wing Þórey Stefánsdóttir. She was part of the Icelandic team at the EHF EURO 2012 and is the only Icelandic player in the current squad with more than 400 goals for the national team. Stefánsdóttir played in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and for Norwegian top club Vipers Kristiansand before she returned to Iceland in 2017 and joined Fram.

By beating the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg twice each in their qualifiers, Iceland booked the ticket to the EHF EURO 2024 and made the first part of their dream come true.

“We are very glad that we managed to be here. Our expectation is to remain in the final tournaments in the upcoming years. And our biggest hope is to get our first win,” says Stefánsdóttir.

After qualifying for the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship (finishing 25th) and now the EHF EURO 2024, women’s handball is reaching more and more fans in Iceland.

“The general interest has grown after our qualification. We also have a good media coverage in Iceland now. Combined with a lot of social media, we are we are getting more and more attention,” says Stefánsdóttir.

Compared to the men’s team, constant EHF EURO participants since more than 20 years and bronze medallists in 2010, the women’s team was not that much in the spotlight previously.

“We are trying to climb up that mountain as well and try to get to their standards and attention,” says Stefánsdóttir. “I hope our men’s national team players follow us and cheer for us now during the EHF EURO.”

Like many men’s national team players, some of the women’s team left their home turf to get experience abroad.

“I try to encourage them to go, as I tried it myself, because that's a great, great experience, both in life and also handball-wise. But we also have a few teams that are very professional in Iceland, even though that's not a professional league. Therefore, the development of the national team builds a bit of both factors,” says Stefánsdóttir.

Iceland’s best tournament in history was the 2011 World Championship in Brazil, where they finished 12th.

“A Norwegian paper wrote that we were playing with the heart out of the shirt. And that was something we were very proud of at that time,” says Stefánsdóttir, adding: “And we had a quite similar team as we have now. We had young promising players and we had some older ones. Half of the players were playing in Iceland.

“We proved anything can happen. We beat Montenegro in our opener. That was one of the best teams in the world at that time. As I said, anything can happen in handball. If you get your head into it and play your best game, everything can happen. That's why we are here.”

Sunna Jónsdóttir is as experienced as Stefánsdóttir, playing her second EHF EURO after 2012 at the age of 35.

“We set a goal four years ago to make I to this EHF EURO, now we are here. We are confident and also try to enjoy every day here,” says Jónsdóttir.

“We have integrated some really good young players, we have improved in defence. And we believe that we can get this point or win here, as we know that we can make it. We have a really good team spirit. Iceland is small, so everybody knows each other well, we have a perfect environment in and around the team.”

After the close defeat against the Netherlands,  her hopes are even higher: “We showed a great match, we can be really proud of what we did. But of course we are disappointed. We learnt and we will improve on Sunday.”

Coach Arnar Pétursson, who took over the team in 2019, has mixed emotions too.

“You are always disappointed when you lose. But I am happy with the performance, how we played the game in defence and how we controlled our game very well. We really did a great job in defence.”

Like all of his players, Pétursson aims for more now against Ukraine: “We have to play at the same level as on Friday, give the same effort. We always have to give everything. We will have to show on Sunday that we can do it again, then we have a chance.”

Pétursson says reaching the EHF EURO has been a major goal since he took over the team.

“Despite the defeat against the Netherlands, our team spirit is great. We're going to use the whole event to take a step forward and develop our game and our team,” he adds.

Working as a team is the core of his work, says Pétursson.

"They are very strong together as a team. They all know each other very well, and they like to be together. They're happy together. That's what we want to build our team around, the togetherness, the toughness, and I'm hoping that we will show that against Ukraine.”

Already facing the Netherlands was a step in this direction.

“We are always aiming to improve our game, it doesn't matter what it is – the defence, the fast breaks, the attack. If we are playing well, then the defence is strong, and the heart is strong, then that's what we need to have in this tournament,” Pétursson explains.

“We are on a journey to move the Icelandic women’s handball closer to the men’s handball, and this EURO shall help us on this way to get experience for the future, take some steps ahead.

“Making it here was a huge step of this journey, as at a tournament like that you play against the best nations in the world. It helps us to develop, to mature and to get closer to our future goals. And therefore I really hope the time has come for our first point.”

Photos © EHF / kolektiff