On Monday evening at 7:28 p.m. the official part of the event for the Faroe Islands national handball team was over. Then the final siren sounded in the preliminary round game of Group D in Berlin between the Faroe Islands and Poland. And the 28:32 defeat ended all of the European Championship newcomer’s hopes of continuing in the main round. After the 29:32 against Slovenia and a much-noticed 26:26 draw against Norway, the first major tournament for the team from the archipelago in the North Atlantic between Iceland, Norway and Scotland was over prematurely.
The evening is far from over.
“I’m obviously disappointed,” said Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu, the Faroe Islands’ best-known handball player, even though he is just 21 years old. But since this season the game designer has been under contract with the German champions THW Kiel and is considered one of the greatest talents – internationally. He found the final defeat against Poland just as unnecessary as the one in the first game against Slovenia; after all, it wasn’t just the draw against one of the favorites that showed that they could keep up.
The Norwegians were apparently so shocked by the unexpected loss of points that they lost their last preliminary round game against the Slovenians 27:28 and are now left with no points in the main round. Not a good prospect given competitors like Sweden and Denmark.
13,321 spectators witnessed the Faroe Islands’ last appearance in the arena at Ostbahnhof, a huge number for a European Championship preliminary round game in handball between two not exactly dazzling names in world handball. However, more than 5,000 fans came from the North Atlantic, and that is an incredible number considering that the total population of the 18 islands is just ten times that. And the Faroese is clearly a sociable fellow, the historic first point win at a European Championship tournament – even against the big neighboring country Norway – was the start of a night of celebration that has never been seen at a tournament like this.
The association had rented a huge party area near the hall and thus practically had its own fan zone. Around 1,000 people celebrated in freezing temperatures, which is not a problem for the Faroe Islands given the average summer temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. There were fan articles, there was singing, laughing and drinking, there were hardcore fans and families there, it was an exuberant and peaceful celebration. There was also a party on the last evening in faraway Germany, as a Skipagotu revealed: “We’ll go to the fan hotel and thank you for the support tonight.”
The Faroe Islands only have seven teams playing domestically
But it’s not just the fan base that’s remarkable, it’s also the Faroe Islands’ handball project. The game is limited to seven teams, which is why the greatest talents are sent to Sweden, Iceland or Denmark when they are young to receive training there. Like a Skipagotu, who moved to Kiel from the Swedish first division club Sävehof. Or Hakun West av Teigum. The 21-year-old matured into a top talent at Danish first division club Skanderborg Aarhus, which earned him a contract with Füchse Berlin. The coach is the Dane Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen, who celebrated three championships as club coach and was twice European champion as an assistant coach with the Danish team. Now he led the Faroe Islands onto the big international stage for the first time.
With remarkable success, especially the Kiel middle man a Skipagotu made the Polish defenders look very wooden with his feints and surprising throws. He scored nine goals, could often only be stopped within seven meters and put his teammates in the spotlight, which particularly benefited right winger Av Teigum with ten goals. Too much of the Faroe Islands’ game still depends on these two young professionals, but five other talents play in the Danish and Norwegian elite leagues. The Faroe Islands had the youngest team in the entire tournament, and the same can be said about the association. It was founded in 1980 and the president is the mother of Toptalent a Skipagotu. His younger brother Roi Ellefsen also plays in the national team, and Oli Mittun and his brother Pauli also have two cousins in the squad.
Despite the elimination, this family business can consider the performance a great success, as top scorer av Teigum confirmed: “It was a fantastic experience for us, you shouldn’t forget that we are at the beginning and Norway is one of the favorites. It was our first tournament This level, there will be many more to come in the future. We are in a learning process.”
Who can still take the Faroe Islands far: “We have a young team and are getting better and better. Now we will focus on qualifying for the World Cup next year, we will work hard for that,” says a Skipagotu. The goal of the Faroe Islands is to establish themselves in international handball, and the outsider can count their entry as successful.
Handball is booming in the Faroe Islands, says Skipagotu, the halls are always open and the children use them because of the inhospitable weather. Participation in the European Championship will not only fuel this trend in his opinion. And, according to reports, the grief over the premature end was successfully overcome together with the fans.