When you think of the Faroe Islands, the first thing that comes to mind is the breathtaking landscape of the archipelago in the North Atlantic between Norway and Iceland. The fishing grounds are rich, it is wonderful to hike or watch the lush bird life. When it comes to sports on the archipelago, many people think of this odd soccer goalkeeper with the white bobble hat, whose parades once made the Austrian national team the laughing stock of Europe. 32 years have passed since then, but it’s best to avoid joking about the epic embarrassment in a Viennese coffee house today. After the defeat against the amateur team from the far north, Austria’s team boss Josef Hickersberger resigned. That Faroese goalkeeper was called Jens Martin Knudsen. In addition to his job as a forklift driver, he was also national champion in gymnastics and goalkeeper for the national handball team.
A lot has happened since then, and not just in football in the Faroe Islands. When the German national handball team meets the Faroe Islands for the first of the two World Cup qualifiers in Kiel in a week (April 13, 6:15 p.m., Sport1) (second leg on April 16 in Torshavn), national coach Alfred Gislason can be sure that a specialist will stand in the opposing goal: Nicholas Satchwell, 30, plays for the former Icelandic champion KA Akureyri, who should be well known to the national coach, because Gislason started his active handball career there. The majority of Faroese players earn their money abroad in Scandinavia in Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Aki Egilsnes was called up by second division club EHV Aue.
The most striking player in the team is the only 19-year-old playmaker Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu, who is currently the top scorer of the Swedish champions Sävehof IK in the European League and who “is being hunted by half of Europe”, as Gislason knows. The coach of the outsider also stands for quality, Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen was assistant coach of the Danish national team and coach of the former Danish champions BSV Bjerringbro/Silkeborg. “Handball there has gotten a lot better,” says Gislason respectfully. “It will be extremely important that we concentrate on these games.”
Has many shot variations: Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu (right) in the Sävehof IK jersey.
(Photo: Mathilda Ahlberg / Bildbyran / Imago)
Nevertheless, the national coach finds it difficult to downplay the role of favorites for his selection, especially since the Faroe Islands only made it into these final qualifiers after being banned by the Belarusian team. Axel Kromer, Sports Director of the German Handball Federation (DHB), is clearer: “Of course we have to win and go to the World Cup,” he says; the 2023 World Cup will take place in Poland and Sweden in January. However, when studying the opponent’s video, Kromer also recognized that “it already looks like top handball”.
Even the news of the long-term absence of the Melsunger right winger Timo Kastening, who tore his cruciate ligament, does not change the default, club colleague Tobias Reichmann will move up for him. Otherwise, Gislason and his squad continue the rejuvenation process initiated at the Chaos European Championship in Bratislava. The Icelander surprisingly does without Philipp Weber from Bundesliga leader Magdeburg and relies on the young playmaker duo Juri Knorr, 21, (Rhein-Neckar Löwen) and Luca Witzke, 23 (Leipzig). “They have a small advantage,” explains the coach, as both are better defenders; they also “showed good things in the friendlies against Hungary” in March. In any case, he prefers actors who can be used more flexibly. And Weber, explains Gislason, is currently playing almost exclusively on the left backcourt position in Magdeburg.
In addition to qualifying for the World Cup, these games are also important for the development of the team, says Gislason, because he identified enough weaknesses in the tests against Hungary (31:31 and 30:29). With which he primarily addressed the inner block in defence, probably the biggest conversion measure for the future. He has to replace Hendrik Pekeler and Patrick Wiencek, his defensive pillars. Wiencek will be officially dismissed from the national team in Kiel after the game. Not Pekeler, he’s only on pause, says Gislason: “The door is always open for Peke.”
