– I think there is a huge desire for revenge from the last match. It really wasn’t something we wanted to represent. We were so present today, we were so aggressive throughout. We were so focused. I am really, really proud, says Norway’s defensive champion Maren Aardahl to news after the match. After an even first half, Norway were superb in the second half and eventually won 28-20 against France. – When you have lost the previous match, you feel a lot of discomfort and processes are set in motion. Sometimes it is very healthy. It may well be that we found a lot in it. We are getting on a wave that just continues to hit outwards in the second half, says captain Stine Bredal Oftedal. – Sometimes it can be good to get a little bang, as long as you lose the right matches, she says. Nora Mørk became Norway’s top scorer with eight goals, six of them from the penalty spot. – We show what lives in us. Stine leads the way like the captain she is. Silje (Solberg-Østhassel) is good. We deliver a solid second half that means we deserve to be in a final again, says Mørk. On Wednesday, Norway struggled greatly against Denmark and suffered its first loss against the Danes in eight years. Aardahl is happy about the opportunity to get revenge quickly. – I don’t think I can explain how excited I am. I want to play right away, because we are so ready now, she says. NORWEGIAN CHEER: Maren Aardahl (number six) and the Norwegian handball girls could celebrate after securing a place in the EC final. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB For Bredal Oftedal, there is one thing that really motivates. – My focus is on winning, regardless of whether it is Denmark or whoever. We have a lot to look at after the previous match, but the gold is the carrot, says Bredal Oftedal. – I think the way we stand up behind today is something completely different to what we had in the last game. If we manage to find it again on Sunday, it will be difficult to beat us, says the captain. – It will be incredibly tough. At the same time, I am proud and happy to be in the final. Now we are the underdogs and have to show that we can beat Denmark, adds Mørk. – It is obvious that Stine is going to the final. On Friday evening, most things went for the Norwegian team. Captain Stine Bredal Oftedal was among those who did not get it against the Danes. Then she scored two goals on six shots. In the EC semi-final against France, Norway’s captain was back at his best and helped propel Norway to a final. During the first twelve minutes, she herself scored four goals and ensured that Norway took an early 6-4 lead. – She is like a shooting star on New Year’s Eve. That’s the little extra. You have the rockets with Henny Reistad, and then you have the shooting stars with Bredal Oftedal, said news’s commentator Patrick Steen Rowlands after the goal. Bredal Oftedal also scored the last goal of the half, which meant that Norway went into the break with a 12-11 lead. WENT AHEAD: Bredal Oftedal wreaked havoc in the first half. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB – It is obvious that Stine is going to this final. She has been phenomenal in the first half, and is really leading the way as the captain she should be, said Viaplay’s expert commentator Karoline Dyhre Breivang. – She has excelled in this round. She plays a perfect match, added Camilla Herrem. Silje Solberg-Østhassel should also have some of the credit for the fact that Norway went into the break with a lead. Just before the break signal went, she made up for it with a nice double save. – It is extraterrestrial. There is an alien that comes down and helps us and stops the last shot. It’s class, said news commentator Steen Rowlands. GOOD: Silje Solberg-Østhassel kept up with a number of good saves. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB Mørk safe from the penalty spot Nora Mørk also scored five goals in the first half – all from penalties. In the second half, it took only 27 seconds before she also got a game goal, when she safely ended a Norwegian counterattack. It obviously gave blood to the teeth, because Mørk held on with another game goal just over a minute later. France fell behind, but Norway remained between one and three goals ahead in the next few minutes. With ten minutes remaining, Norway got a four-goal lead for the first time when Sunniva Andersen sent Norway up to 23–19. After that, Norway had good control, while France collapsed. Norway eventually won 28–20 and secured their place in the EC final on Sunday evening. – This has been class. Something completely different that we have seen in this championship. New final for the Norwegian handball girls, says Rowlands after the match. – Absolutely fantastic match by Norway. Good defense, good goalkeeping. It has been a very good match, says news’s expert commentator Marit Malm Frafjord. SAFE: Nora Mørk scored on six out of six penalties. In total, she has scored 26 out of 27 penalties in the championship. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB Meets Denmark in the final Norway has been the great handball nation in the context of the European Championship since the start in 1994. In the 14 championships before this year’s European Championship, they had won eight out of 14 possible golds, and they had reached the European Championship final in nine of the last ten championships. The exception was 2018, when Norway finished in fifth place. Then it was precisely France that went all the way to the top at home, and ahead of Friday’s semi-final, France was considered a slight favourite. Norway made it through the group stage undefeated and had already secured a place in the semi-finals before the meeting against Denmark in the last match of the main round. There, it was the Danes who emerged victorious from a dramatic match, which ended 31–29. It was also the first Danish victory against Norway in eight years and ensured that the Danes emerged victorious from the main round. They thus met Montenegro in the semi-final, where the Danes won and reached their first EC final since 2004. In the final they will face Norway, as they also did 18 years ago. Then Norway won 27–25. The final starts at 8.30pm on Sunday evening. DANISH JUBILEE: For the first time in 18 years, Denmark’s handball women will play in an EC final. Here they celebrate after the victory against Montenegro. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB
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Stine Bredal Oftedal went ahead – Norway to the EC final – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
