– He can make you look stupid. He can make you walk a completely different path than he does. He’s a crazy good player, says Christian O’Sullivan about Dutchman Luc Steins. 27-year-old Steins is not a typical top player. The centre-back is 20 centimeters lower and 24 kilograms lighter than the average in the Norwegian WC squad. On the club team PSG, there is almost half a meter (45 centimeters) up to the tallest colleague, Dainis Kristopans (215 cm). His 172 centimeters and 70 kilograms stand in stark contrast to Norwegian star players such as Sander Sagosen (195 cm), Harald Reinkind (196 cm ), Gøran Johannessen (193 cm) and Magnus Abelvik Rød (204 cm). – It is impressive what he is able to achieve with that height. But he uses it to his advantage. You can turn it around to the fact that it is his strength with a low center of gravity and that he can move incredibly quickly, says Håvard Tvedten to news – He has footwork that is incredibly difficult to control, the former handball player continued. FINTER: Steins tries to go past Kristopans. Here from the EC in 2020, where the clubmates played against each other. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB – Extremely good Only three players in the Norwegian WC squad are under 190 centimeters, with Tobias Grøndahl as the shortest. He measures 182 centimeters on the stocking bar. Although it is ten centimeters higher than Stein’s. But what Steins might lack in centimetres, he emphatically makes up for in understanding of the game, feints and lightning-fast tempo changes. – For a handball player, he is quite small. This means that you cannot deal with him in a way you are often used to – you have to go down further to deal with him, at least for the bigger players. It is a dimension. Then he is extremely fast and incredibly good at lateral movement, says Tvedten. Together with their full-back colleagues Kay Smits (185 cm) and Dani Baijens (182 cm), the Netherlands is by far the most physically dominant team, but they have a pace that can present major challenges to any defence. EXPERT: Håvard Tvedten. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB Tvedten is clear that Norway should fear Steins before the match on Tuesday. news’s handball expert describes him as a constant moment of unrest. – He is the single player who is most central (for the Netherlands), he believes. The three full-backs are so far in the World Cup with 35 goals and 27 assists, and Steins in particular plays an important role in almost everything the Netherlands does. – He is an extremely good team player and uses his individual skills extremely well for the team, says O’Sullivan. First WC since 1961 27-year-old Steins was brought to Paris Saint-Germain in autumn 2020 as a replacement for superstar Nikola Karabatic, who was out with an injury. In the French top team, Steins has really established himself as one of the best handball players in the world. He also showed his qualities during the EC last year. Although the Netherlands were still in tenth place, he got a place on the best team in the tournament as a centre-back. And this year, the Netherlands is playing the WC for the second time in history and the first time since 1961 after receiving an invitation to the championship. Now it’s Norway they can stick sticks in the wheel for. Both teams are already through from Group F after two out of two possible victories. Now the battle is on to see who wins the group and can potentially take four points into the intermediate game. And then Stein’s must stop. – He is so fast both ways and creates space for his teammates. It is one that you have to talk a lot about in the preparations about how you are going to control shots wide out into the pitch. That will be the majority of our work leading up to that match, says Petter Øverby. KEMPER: Steins here in a duel with World Cup match North Macedonia’s Mihajlo Mladenovikj. Photo: TOMASZ MARKOWSKI / Reuters – Often forced to cover with two men, Øverby answers affirmatively “yes” to the fact that there will be a special focus on the fast-paced playmaker in the game on Tuesday. – How do you stop a player like Stein’s? – You are often forced to cover with two men. And then you have to be proactive in the defensive job, so that you cover the room and work away from him. He’s going to win some duels, that’s just the way it is. Then you have to have an agreement on how you will tow the boat after that, says Øverby. Linemate Magnus Gullerud points out that giving other players more space can be important. – He is terribly quick on his feet. Getting a lot of room around him can quickly become difficult. Then you can quickly look stupid. We have to be careful to help each other and stand narrowly, and then he can get a little less space, while others get more space. Norway plays its third game in the World Cup against the Netherlands at 20:30. You can follow the match on news sport on the radio.
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Is half a meter shorter than his star colleague – now he is scaring Norway – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
