Handball – Mastery by Sagosen, thrashed World Champs

Sander SagosenSander Sagosen in action from Norway.Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix

Sander Sagosen was a giant

The Norwegian handball team pushed World Champions France totally on the defensive and won 35-30. Sander Sagosen was the team’s giant in the European Championships qualifying match on Wednesday.

 

A packed Oslo Spektrum saw that Norway went from 24-24 to 27-24 in the 2nd half. Then France got two horrible judgments in their favour.

The Norwegian players fought heroic with fewer players on the pitch and resurfaced with a 27-25 lead. That proved to be an absolutely crucial stage of the match.

Keeper Torbjørn Bergerud rose to the occasion and had several important saves in the second half.

Sander Sagosen was absolutely outstanding with 13 goals, and he showed the French television audience what Paris Saint-Germain has in store. Sagosen will be a PSG player from this summer onwards.

Norway is well and truly placed in the world’s top teams. France’s ‘gold wholesalers ‘ almost never lose matches.

On Wednesday, Nikola Karabatic & Co, got into Oslo’s summer night and could enjoy a glass or two as losers.

Solid Defence

A solid defence, counters, fighting and playing to their own skills were major parts of Norway’s winning recipe.

Goal keeper Bergerud played brilliantly for the first 20 minutes. France scored only two in their first 13 attempts at goal.

Norway had three or four-goal leads several times before the break. Sagosen was superb, almost all attempts resulted in a counting result.

The two best teamss from each qualifying group move on to the European Championships together with the best third placed team. Belgium and Lithuania are the other two teams in Group 7.

Norway had a miserable match and lost away to Lithuania last year. This means that there is still some nerve in terms of qualification.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today