Sagosen ruled in a 34-24 win at the World Championships
Sander Sagosen continued his «goal rush» when the Norwegian handball team left Austria behind in the 34-24 victory at the World Championships on Monday. He ruled supreme in the offence.
In the last eight internationals that Sagosen has been on the parquet, he has amassed 70 goals.
“Those are nice figures, but not something I a tally on. That’s something for journalists to spend time on,” Sagosen tells NTB.
“Austria has underperformed somewhat at the World Championships so far. In the first half, they hung on comme ci, comme ça. After the break, we ground them down. We are quite simply a class above them,” he adds.
The star player achieved a zero in the Handball Federation’s statistics from the game against Saudi Arabia on Saturday. He sat that one out on the bench throughout.
Sagosen is pure world class and perhaps the world’s best handball player at the moment, but superstars can also miss the target. Before the break, he executed several uncommon failed passes.
Goalkeeper Espen Christensen came in after only 21 minutes in Monday’s match. Then the primary choice for the position, Torbjørn Bergerud, had had a very variable period on the court with few saves.
Christensen had to attend a dentist to fix a damaged tooth on Sunday. On Monday, he fended off seven of the first eight shots fired at his goal. This contributed to a somewhat scruffy Norwegian team obtaining a lead of a few goals before the intermission.
Finals
The second half was better and more precise in the Norwegian offence. The clear difference of class between the teams was revealed.
Magnus Jøndal continued his scoring show in the World Championships. He delivers goals as if on order in Denmark. Gøran Johannessen displayed that he is nearing his top level after breaking his hand a few months ago.
That can be crucial in the group final against Denmark on Thursday.
Bjarte Myrhol has also had a very good start to the championship with sky-high success ratios and many goals scored.
Chile next lamb to the slaughter
On Tuesday, the Norwegian men play against Chile. There they are even bigger favourites than against Austria, and a real collapse is needed for Norway not win.
After that, after a rest day, what the Danes call “the thunder in the Box” awaits. The winner of Denmark-Norway will have a smashing point of departure in the main round.
“It is important not to think too much about that battle even though I am looking extremely much forward to it,” Sagosen comments.
To the main round, the teams from Sweden’s group leads to three more games for Norway. The two best in each of the two main round pools goes on to the play the semi-finals. These are played in Hamburg on Friday, next week.
Norway has been in the semi-finals in two of the last three championships (2016 European and 2017 World Championships).
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
