– Five mistakes in the first 16 minutes is far too many.
NRK’s handball expert Håvard Tvedten almost rubbed his eyes during the start of the Olympic game against South Korea.
Norway opened the match at a breathtaking pace and led at one point 4–1 over the South Koreans. However, after just under ten minutes, problems started for the heavy favorites from Norway, who made several technical errors in attack and allowed their opponent back into the game.
ERRORS: The Norwegian handball women made unusually many errors before the break.
Photo: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP
– It’s five technical mistakes in the first 16 minutes, and that is unusually high for Norway, he reiterated.
Discovery expert Ole Gustav Gjekstad also did not like what he saw from Norway.
– Sluggish and a high percentage of mistakes. There’s no need to play with such small margins, Gjekstad remarked.
– A risky match
Norway’s coach Thorir Hergeirsson admits that the first half was not good enough. He believes the players took their opponent a bit too lightly.
– Maybe we think it’s going to be easier than it is? It’s a somewhat risky match. It’s a Korean team that has developed a lot. They have brought in two new players since the World Cup, and they make a big difference, says the national team coach to NRK.
However, it seemed that Thorir Hergeirsson’s halftime talk did wonders for the Norwegian handball women.
In the second half, the attacking play showed more signs of goals and good attacks than mistakes – which reflected positively on the scoreboard.
COACHING DUO: Thorir Hergeirsson and Mats Olsson (to the right) were active on the bench.
Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB
Unsettled by an unusual playing style
Norway eventually won 26–20 and has four points after three matches. Norway is currently second in the group and is thus in a good position to advance from group A, where a total of four teams will move on to the quarter-finals.
When NRK asked Veronica Kristiansen about the reason for Norway’s sluggishness before the break, the 34-year-old pointed out that South Korea plays differently than many other teams.
– They are fast, and they have a slightly different playing style. But we just have to follow through and improve our game, she says.
Kristiansen is not alone in pointing out the non-traditional playing style of the South Koreans.
– It was a bit sluggish at the start. They play a completely different handball than we are used to, says Maren Aardahl to Dagbladet.
Assistant Mats Olsson explains the playing style like this to NRK:
– It becomes a slightly different handball when facing Korea. There are many tempo changes, and we get dragged down to their pace.
RETURNING FROM INJURY: Henny Reistad was finally back on the court for Norway.
Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB
The world’s best back in action
The big news before Tuesday’s match was that Henny Reistad was back on the court after missing the first two Olympic games due to injury.
Reistad, who was crowned the world’s best female player in March, has struggled with an ankle injury, and the national team management did not want to risk using the 25-year-old in a full-intensity match – until now.
Reistad scored four goals and received two two-minute suspensions.
National team coach Thorir Hergeirsson evaluates the star player’s “comeback” as follows:
– Yes, she is fit. It went very well. The performance varies, and that’s not surprising; it has been a good while since she’s played a match. This is her Olympic debut this time. I think she actually comes out of it quite well.
The Norwegian handball women started the Olympics in the worst possible way with a loss to Sweden. However, in the next match, Norway made a strong comeback by impressively defeating Denmark with a crushing score of 27–18.
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