Sweden is not just a supplier of great pop music and crispy rolls. It knows how to build magnificent stadiums and not in kit form like a big brand in the country. The Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, where the final of the Handball World Championship between France and Denmark is taking place this Sunday, January 29, is an ultramodern stadium.
Inaugurated 10 years ago, the setting hosts two football teams from the Swedish capital, but is also awaiting Madonna’s tour at the end of the year. If we talk about it, it’s because it has a twin stadium in Europe: the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq. Same look, same style, same color, we believe it.
And that’s good because it gives the Blues who had not experienced the 2017 World Cup – where the Experts had played their 8th and their quarter-final in this 28,000-seat enclosure – an idea of what awaits them in ten- eight months for the Paris Olympics. Remember that the final phase of the tournament will take place in this stadium which also hosted the Davis Cup and the 2015 Basketball Euros. In a year, why not, we could see yet another clash France – Denmark in the final poster.
“At the end of the day, we are the ones who will lift the Cup”
The only notable difference in eighteen months: the stadium will surely be a little bluer than this weekend. In the streets of Stockholm around the stadium, we looked for the touches of blue among the fans. Drowned in the yellow jerseys of the Swedes or red of the Danes who stormed the surroundings, we did not find any. Or not a lot.
Three hours before kick-off, Thomas from Strasbourg pulled out a blue white red flag above his head. But he found himself quite alone: “It doesn’t matter,” he smiles. I don’t mind being like a fool around all these Danes and Swedes. But at the end of the day, we are the ones who will lift the Cup. »
During the small final between Sweden and Spain refereed by a pair of French referees, Charlotte and Julie Bonaventura, there was not much blue either in the stands filled with some 20,000 spectators. Lots of yellow to support the Swedes in search of a bronze medal and lots of red to wait for the Danes. At the applause meter at 9 p.m., the France team may not win the match. It doesn’t matter, that’s not the one that counts.