Norway left back Henny Reistad (22 years old) and Kari Brattset Dale (30) have 101 senior national team appearances between them, but none have come in an Olympic Games.

That could change this July if they get through the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 – Women’s Tournament 3 this weekend in Podgorica, where they face Montenegro and Romania.

They talked to ihf.info about their hopes for this weekend, the pride of playing for their country and a whole lot more.

ihf.info: It feels like just a few weeks ago you were lifting the 2020 European Championship trophy, but since then you have been very busy, including guiding your respective clubs – Vipers and Gyor – to the Women’s Championship League quarter-finals. How are you feeling? Nice to be back with the national team again?

Henny Reistad: I’m very good. I’m very happy to be with the national team again. We’ve had some good trainings and feeling good. Actually both physically mentally is very good. Physically, we haven’t have had so many matches so most of our training is not so heavy for the body.

Mentally it would be maybe better to play more handball matches to be even more into the tactical, but we tried to make it the same as a normal season as possible. We don’t play any Norwegian matches so just to be able to go to Denmark and play, and then just two matches [here] we’re happy for it. I don't think it's the best for our team that we play so few, but just to play any matches, we’re very happy.

Kari Brattset Dale: All we want, is that we want to play. I'm really happy that with Gyor we got to play a lot of the games and didn’t have so many postponements. So we are really happy about this and we tried to take as much care as we can so we can keep playing.

ihf.info: At this top level you know the players and teams very well. How do you feel about the Montenegro game?

Henny Reistad: We know that they are a team that will fight the whole game so we need to be very, very specific in our tactical game, both forwards and in defence, and we just need to bring our best and use lots of power in defence.

Kari Brattset Dale: Montenegro and Romania have a lot of good players. We are preparing now and we can see a lot of good qualities in all their ways of playing and we're really excited about that. 

Romania and Norway have a long history [together] and last time we played against them in the European Championship it was a really tough game. They are always tough to play against and then they didn't have Crina Pintea either. They are really strong.

ihf.info: You finished sixth at the 2018 European Championship in France, your second lowest-ever ranking in the competition, but took fourth at the 2019 IHF World Championship in Kumamoto, Japan before winning the European Championship in December. What changed between France and Japan, and then up to the 2020 EURO?

Kari Brattset Dale: I really feel that we made some steps in Kumamoto compared to 2018. For sure we made some ground there, but at the 2020 EURO we took one more step. I felt, especially, the defence was a lot better. We felt more secure and I think we have grown as a team since then.

ihf.info: Do you remember watching the Norway women’s team winning Olympic medals in previous years? What was it like joining this Norway side which have won so much and how do you feel when you play for them?

Henny Reistad: It’s not one special incident, but I know that every time there was a game on TV it was the highlight of the day and I was so looking forward to watching every minute of the game, either alone, with family or with friends, it was just definitely the highlight.

I felt proud when I joined the team. I felt like more of underdog. There was a reason for me being in the team, and I could just go in and play with the girls and use everything that I'm good at. I was so lucky to just be part of the team so early. When the IHF World Junior Championship finished in the summer I could join the team already in November, I felt very lucky and it was just very fun to learn so much from so many good players.

Kari Brattset Dale: I remember watching them and, in my case, I didn’t even dream about it because it was too big to achieve in some ways. So to be here now and play [a place at the] Olympic Games it’s really big. It’s a dream for everyone. Especially Norway has this great history [in the Olympics] and to be part of the fight to be a part of that it’s really big.

The first time [I played] I don’t think I was even myself, but now when you hear the national anthem, you switch and you start to focus. You think about what you’re representing. We’re really proud of our country and we want to play and show that we are proud.

[As a team] we are really gathered in our fighting spirit and we’re really standing there together and fighting. We are always trying to be happy about what we’re doing. We love handball and we try to show it on the court as well, to smile and to show that we are excited about playing.

ihf.info: What was the biggest difference between the junior and senior team and what have you learned as a player?

Henny Reistad: It was so different. Everyone is [obviously] so much more professional and knows what to do to win the game, and to be able to win every game in the championship. I learned very much from that, just to put in every effort into tactical and the preparations and to learn from each game into the next game. Every part of this through playing, eight, nine games in a championship. That was what I learned the most.

ihf.info: What would it mean to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

Henny Reistad: Just to be able to help the team get to an Olympic Games is so huge and just to think about the possibility of playing in the Olympics is a dream come true.

Kari Brattset Dale: Of course we think about it but we try to put it away and we know that it’s something right here in front of us that has to happen first to get there. So we try to put it away and just focus on right now. There are two other really good teams playing here for these two places.

ihf.info: The Norway men qualified for Tokyo 2020 last week here in Montenegro and Sander Sagosen told us they left the court “warm” for you. What would it be like to qualify too and join them in Japan in July?

Henny Reistad: It would mean so much [to qualify]. I’m very proud of the boys that they made it to the Olympics. It would be great if we could have that experience together with them.

ihf.info: What is your message to the Norway fans who cannot be here in Podgorica?

Kari Brattset Dale: We just want to say that we still feel them. We want to fight for them and fight for the whole country. Thank you for all the support and we are really, really looking forward to having them back in the arenas.
 

Feature photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP/NTB