Handball European Championships
With Gidsel to the title? – Denmark wants to end its dry spell
Mathias Gidsel (on the ball) is aiming for Denmark’s third European Championship title after 2008 and 2012. photo
© Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix/AP/dpa
Denmark is aiming for its next big triumph at the European Handball Championships. The hope is a Bundesliga star who is simply supposed to be “Mathias” in the national team.
When the Danes won their last European Championship title twelve years ago, Gidsel was a teenager sitting in front of the TV. Now the 24-year-old backcourt player from the European League winner Füchse Berlin is one of the great hopes in the team of former Bundesliga coach Nikolaj Jacobsen.
“I have the feeling that I’m currently playing the handball of my life,” Gidsel told the Danish radio station DR shortly before the start of the final round. He wants to prove that in the first group game against the Czech Republic this Thursday (8.30 p.m.) in Munich.
Hanning believes Gidsel will have a “major role”.
At Füchse Berlin, the most valuable player and top scorer in the 2023 World Cup has long since matured into a leader. With his 141 goals so far this season, Gidsel has played a major role in the fact that the capital club is tied for second place in the table with leaders SC Magdeburg and can dream of the first championship title in the club’s history.
Füchse managing director Bob Hanning believes that the dynamic and strong backcourt shooter will also play a key role in the Danish selection. “Mathias Gidsel can be a decisive factor on the way to the title. He is a player who makes every team better and can make the difference,” Hanning told the German Press Agency.
However, Gidsel is just one piece of the mosaic in the Danish star ensemble around the multiple world handball players Niklas Landin and Mikkel Hansen, for whom this could be the last European Championship. “I’m part of a national team that has some of Denmark’s best handball players of all time,” Gidsel emphasized modestly.
His role in the national team is therefore slightly different than with the Foxes. “At the moment he should just be Mathias and do what he is best at: playing really good handball and being a breath of fresh air off the field,” said national coach Jacobsen at DR Sport and added: “He is clearly Berlin’s best player, and it’s natural that he wants to take responsibility. But we still have a lot of experienced people in the team and it’s their role to carry the load.”
“Played three sensible games”
With a 32:18 victory in the last test match against the Netherlands, the Danes warmed up for their gold mission. Previously there was a 27:27 against Norway and a 34:31 against Egypt. “We played three reasonable games,” said Jacobsen at the end of the preparation: “Hopefully we’ll be razor-sharp on Thursday.”
His protégés make no secret about their tournament goal. “We want to win the EURO 100 percent, there is no doubt about that,” said backcourt player Simon Pytlick from Bundesliga club SG Flensburg-Handewitt. “However, we are aware that there is a long way to go before we can stand with the finest metal around our necks.”
If you want a superstar in the industry, then there is no way around the world champion of 2019, 2021 and 2023. “If you ask me, Denmark is the clear favorite. They should win the European Championship. Anything else would be a fiasco for them,” said Norway’s exceptional player Sander Sagosen.