Norway’s left back Kristine Breistol is feeling in the Christmas spirit while talking to ihf.info from Denmark on the eve of their semi-final against fellow co-hosts Denmark in Herning on Friday.

“For a lot of people in Norway, it's almost a tradition to watch handball during December. It reminds them, that ‘okay, Christmas is coming up’.

“It's because of the good results and the work that the Norwegian handball team has been putting in for a lot of years. We've been doing really well for many years now.”

Another Happy Christmas?

With the current, 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship included, Norway have reached 24 of the past 30 finals stages of the IHF World Championships and EHF European Championships, missing out on the top six just twice.

Their European record goes back to 2000, when they finished sixth in Romania. Since then, they have missed the last four just once, in 2018, winning eight titles along the way, including the most recent, in 2022.

In the IHF Women’s World Championship their record stretches back to 1986 when they won bronze in the Netherlands. They then missed just four semi-final stages across the next 17 editions, a run which included four titles, including the most recent one, at Spain 2021.

A win in Herning will put them on five titles and alone at the top of the all-time record, a spot they currently share with Russia.

“It’s really a Christmas feeling for both us as a team and for the whole country,” explains goalkeeper Silje Solberg about her side being a regular fixture at the festive finals weekend for the past three decades. 

“The whole country is sitting in front of the TV and watching the championship, feeling: ‘now it's Christmas’.”

“They love to watch us (and) are sending a lot of greetings,” adds the 33-year-old about the support of her friends and family. “Often, they're also coming to watch a lot of the games if it's in Norway, Denmark or out in Europe. They are cheering on us and this weekend, they're all coming to cheer us, for hopefully a final. They already bought tickets (for the final weekend).”

“Last year when we played in November (at the European Championships which were moved forward to not clash with the FIFA World Cup), we got a lot of people saying it was so weird that we were playing in November and not in December because they didn't get the same Christmas or December feeling,” add Breistol, smiling.

“I remember I always watched the women's team in December and for me, it was a big part of the December thing. I always remember December as championship time and watching handball during the evenings.”

 

Neighbours, rivals and next opponents

Standing in the way of another final for Norway are Denmark, a side they know well, having beating them in the continental final last year.

“They are a really good team and at home in the (Jyske Bank) Boxen they will have so much support behind them,” says Solberg, who plays in the national side with her twin sister, Sanna. “It will be a tough game for sure. We have struggled the last years when we played against them they are really tough in defence, so it will be a good game and we will give everything to get this one as well.”

“If we play our best handball and how we know we can play, then I think we can beat them,” adds Breistol. “They will have a lot of support in the arena tomorrow but we will also have a lot of support and we love playing against Denmark.

“We know that the games are always tough. We know each other well. If we prepare good, and we're ready, then we have a good chance.”

Everyone plays their role

Breistol and Solberg have had very different roles in Thorir Hergeirsson’s squad so far this championship, with Solberg playing in six of her sides’ seven games, starting five and racking up over three hours of play, while Breistol has featured in four games for just over an hour so far.

“We are now such a strong team and there's so many good players, it's difficult to know what kind of a role you will get and how much you play,” explains the 30-year-old who plays for Esbjerg in Denmark, just over an hour’s drive from Herning.

“For me, it's important to always prepare as I normally do for the club or national team, then I know that I will be ready and as prepared as possible if I get the chance to play.

“It's great being part of this team,” she adds. “We're always trying to be the best. We're so many good players here – the competition is really tough, as it should be, if we want to beat the best.”

Solberg, like fellow first choice goalkeeper Katrine Lunde, had some injury concerns ahead of the championship and the issues allowed the opportunity for Hergeirsson to add some new faces to the squad including 22-year-old Olivia Lykke Nygaard, who had just three senior appearances to her name before the championship.

In total, Norway have had four different goalkeeping pairings at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship so far, before settling on Solberg/Lunde for since their clash against Angola on 6 December.

“It has been really nice,” said Solberg about working in a quartet of Norwegian goalkeepers at the championship, which also includes 30-year-old Marie Skurtveit Davidsen, with just 10 appearances to her name.

“It's important for us as a team to collect more young goalkeepers. At my age and Katrine Lunde’s age (43) it's important to have young girls coming up, taking the next step and also get some experience.

“I can see they are really hungry and they also learn a lot,” she adds. “This inspires me, that they are here, just wanting more, watching me and Katrine and learning. It also gives me this feeling that I still want to learn more somehow.

“Olivia got some games, to see how it is during a championship, feel the atmosphere in our team and get to know the culture and this winning spirit that we have.”

Performance and winning

That culture and spirit has been fostered for many years by those involved with Norwegian handball with coach Hergeirsson the current gatekeeper.

“Thorir is a great leader,” explains Breistol. “He’s really good at getting the group to work in the same direction and performing good, without always being able to have the same thing, because it's always getting injuries and new players are coming in.

“He's really good at bringing the team together, working towards the same goal and making people perform.

“We're super loyal to the concept and everyone is working so hard and really doing all their best work to try to make this as good as possible and try to get the results we want.”

Both Breistol and Solberg were part of the Norway team which claimed gold at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship in Spain last time out, Solberg adding expanding her championship medal collection after her 2015 gold and 2017 silver.

But Solberg’s first-ever IHF World Championship gold was won in Republic of Korea, at the 2010 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, part of a squad which featured Stine Oftedal, Nora Mork and her sister, Sanna – all still playing for Norway with her in 2023.

“It has been really amazing, they have such good handball heads and live for handball just like me,” said Solberg about the trio. 

“It's really inspiring to play with such good players. I feel really lucky to have been going all the way together with them from ever since the juniors until now.”

2010 was a crucial year for Solberg as, inspired by the ‘Christmas tradition’ on TV in December, it paved the way for her to step up to the senior squad in early 2011.

“I was sitting at home watching the European Championships in Norway, hoping that it will be my turn one day,” she explained. “It was my dream to come to the national team. I just finished the junior national team and I knew that the next step was the seniors, but I knew it was not easy because we had so many good goalkeepers; especially Katrine and Kari Aalvik Grimsbø.

“I then came in, for learning,” she added about her first senior IHF Women’s World Championship experience, at Serbia 2013. “I was together with Katrine (Lunde) and when I look back now, I think I was not in in the best level to come, but I was there just for learning, to see how it was with the senior team, to get a little experience so that I could develop for the next championships.”

A double century of memories

Now, a decade later, Solberg is ready for a world championship semi-final in what will be her 200th senior team appearance, her 199th appearance seeing her awarded the hummel Best Player of the Match award, presented by the future King of Norway.

“It was incredible, when I saw it was him delivering the prize, I was ‘oooooh I want this prize’, it was a proud moment to shake his hand and to get a hug from the future King,” she explained.

“We know that handball is a big sport and we have a good culture for it, it means a lot for us to have this support. It gives us energy and hunger for us to develop even more.

And could she believe she would reach a double century of appearances for the senior team one day?

“Absolutely not,” answers the Gyor player. “It's a huge number and I feel really proud that I made it. I’m really humbled that it's going so well with my body and everything. I know that it's not sure that everybody can go this far, to keep the level and to keep as free of injuries. I'm really proud.”

With both players laser-focused and about to head to their last training session ahead of their crunch semi-final, only one, important question remains.

Has Breistol bought her Christmas presents yet?

“I'm always late, I always buy them in the last days before Christmas, but I have a little more time,” she laughs. “I haven't started yet, but hopefully I have some days when I go home and I will get them ready for Christmas.

“I need to do the shopping next week. I have a few days; Friday, Saturday. I’m good. I think I will make it.”

For Breistol and Norway, they hope they will ‘make it’ on the handball court tomorrow and on Sunday so they can receive the best handball present of all – a world championship gold medal.