Led by Camilla Herrem, only a stone’s throw from her hometown of Sola, the Norwegian handball girls had a brilliant World Cup opening in Stavanger. Herrem scored seven of the goals as Norway won 43–11. – It was a good WC opening for us. We got a lot of easy goals, got to run a bit and everyone got to try themselves, so it was good, says Herrem to news. TOP SCORER: Camilla Herrem scored seven of Norway’s goals in the World Cup opener. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB Hyller Grønland There was a lot of talk beforehand that Norway could set new goal records, but the 48-11 victory over Uruguay in 2001 and 47-10 against Australia in 2005 stand as the biggest Norwegian victories in WC. Hungary’s biggest win of all time is, by the way, from its 57-9 triumph against Australia in 2005. Greenland started with the ball, and with that got the opportunity to take the lead against the reigning champions. They did not take advantage of that chance, and at the opposite end Henny Reistad had the honor of scoring Norway’s first goal in this World Cup. Greenland responded by attacking fearlessly, and Andrea Heilmann clinched the equalizer to huge cheers from the Greenlandic players. – It is fantastic to see. It’s as if they’ve won the entire championship, said news expert Amanda Kurtovic about the sporting joy of the Greenland camp. National team coach Thorir Hergeirsson was also impressed by the sportsmanship shown by Greenland. He took plenty of time to praise his opponent when he spoke to news after the match. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB – I bring with me Greenlandic, proud supporters who supported their team and cheered for every goal. And who are very proud that the handball girls from Greenland have qualified for a WC. There is little perspective for the nations that are always there and people get a little spoiled and feel that winning is the only thing that matters. It is good to see that it is still the case that taking part is also big, says Hergeirsson. – The Greenlandic team were just so happy. It was a nice match to play and they had a fantastic audience with them who created a good atmosphere together with the Norwegians, says Stine Skogrand. More than 300 Greenlandic supporters had made the trip to the stands in Stavanger, and they were going to have more to cheer about. After the amateurs managed another equalizer to 2-2, the Greenlandic commentators were in a good mood. – They hug each other in the commentator’s box in front here. They are simply ecstatic. It is a dream opening, said news commentator Patrick Sten Rowlands. CHEERED: The loss to Brak did not affect the Greenland players. After the match, they celebrated the World Cup opening together with the visiting supporters. Photo: NTB However, it was to be the last time the islanders could cheer for an equaliser, but they still held on well for a while longer. The big loss did not particularly affect Greenland player Ivalu Bjelge. After the game, she talked about how big this was. – It was a cool experience. We had a really good start to the game. I think it was pretty cool when it was 2-2. I think it was cool that we got to show off a bit. After eight minutes, Norway led 5–4. – I don’t think Norway has underestimated them at all, but it seems a bit hesitant, a bit half-hearted, and you are not fully involved in defence. At least it’s not the best we’ve seen from Norway, Kurtovic said then. – We knew that at one point or another we were going to shake them off, says Norway player Stine Skogrand, who scored six goals in the match, about the opening minutes. Greenland continued to be a few goals behind until 8-6, but then Norway lifted a few notches. After 12 minutes without going backwards for Silje Solberg-Østhassel, who on Saturday played her first game after becoming a mother in August, Norway increased their lead to 16–6. Goalkeeper Solberg-Østhassel was even responsible for one of the goals. At the break it was 19-7 to Thorir Hergeirsson’s women. – They got off to an amazing start. I don’t think they expected that at all. They almost looked shocked themselves, Kurtovic said. EXPERT: Amanda Kurtovic, pictured here in connection with the EC in Sweden in 2016. Photo: NTB Debutant scored five The news expert, who has previously won Olympic, WC and EC gold with Norway, pointed to Greenland’s choice to leave from seven to six in attack as a poor move to get chances. – As soon as they got away from that, they didn’t get any chances. Then they simply had no chance against a strong Norwegian defence, Kurtovic said. Norway’s assistant coach Mats Olsson doesn’t think it was half-baked with seven behinds during the first half. – There is no bad team in any way. They can play handball and have their moves. They were allowed to hold on to the ball for a while at the start, Olsson told news during the break. After the break, Greenland went back to attacking in seven against six, and got some scores with it. But with the keeper off target, the goals quickly came back. Olivia Lykke Nygaard took over for Solberg-Østhassel in the Norwegian goal, and scored two goals in her WC debut. – It was an open goal, so then it was just a matter of throwing, says Nygaard to news. GOOD DEBUT: Maja Furu Sæteren scored five goals for Norway. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB It was also Maja Furu Sæteren’s WC debut, and she also left her mark on the second half with five goals. Norway’s next match is on Friday at 20:30. Then they meet Austria. The match is broadcast on TV 3 and can also be followed on news Radio.
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Norway swept Greenland off the field – won with 32 goals in the World Cup opener – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
