All-Scandinavian clash edged by Danes, who are at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship after receiving a substitute place back in March.

GROUP D
Norway vs Denmark 31:32 (14:20)

It was just the second match at the Pavillon Municipal de Deportes de Pontevedra of Spain 2019, but it could end up being one of the most exciting games of the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship.

63 goals were scored between these two neighbouring nations, but only one mattered: the final one. And it came courtesy of a technical masterstroke – literally – from Denmark’s right wing Nikolai Vinther with just nine seconds left on the clock.

It was his 11th of the game and most important, but Denmark should not have let it come to this.

Just before the half-time break they were eight goals ahead (20:12) and with seven minutes of the game remaining they were seven ahead (30:23), but a 5:0 scoring run from the 57th minute for Norway brought them within one (31:30), punctuated by a direct red card for Denmark’s Frederik Tilsted following a defensive fast-break foul.

This, combined with Norway’s fighting spirit and the momentum that came with it, began to shine through and a late Danish miss saw the Norwegians take a deep breath – and then time out, with 49 seconds left. 

The following Norwegian attack saw Leander Seime bring the scores level at 31:31 and the Danes were on the ropes. But they pushed into their attack after a time out (59:39), removing their goalkeeper for a court player with Tilsted still serving his suspension, and after finally pushing the ball over to the right, Vinther, later named best player of the match, worked his magic.

Norway still had time to get a point, but a poor restart saw the ball mishandled and any chance of a long-range effort evaporate.

Denmark had gone into the match having beaten Norway 33:22 in a friendly tournament just under two weeks ago and with a large contingent of support inside the arena the team showed their effectiveness in the first 30 minutes.

Even though Norway’s Robin Paulsen Haug made 13 first half saves, the four from Denmark’s Christoffer Bonde came at crucial times and were arguably more important. In attack however, Denmark were impressive – 10 of their players scored in the opening period as the side shot 33 times at the Norwegian goal, while Norway could only manage 21 attempts.

But, the warning signs of what was to come for Denmark came early in the second half as Stefan Madsen was forced to call a time out just over five minutes in after Norway went on a 4:0 run to make the difference just three.

Best Player of the Match: Nikolai Vinther (DEN)

Photo: Juan Luis Recio/Spain 2019