By Ahmed Gamal, Egypt 2021 Media Volunteer

After winning their semi-final against France last night, Sweden star Lukas Sandell expressed his great happiness that his country qualified for the final of the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, which is currently being held in Egypt.

“It was a very difficult match and saw many quick counter-attacks,” said the 23-year-old. “Our defence was very strong and distinguished by strength and speed. In general, the match was very fast, and we managed to deal with it well and we won in the end.”

The right back, who is playing in the Danish club Aalborg, has participated in all of his country's eight matches at Egypt 2021 so far, scoring 17 times and only failing to not hit the target against Slovenia, contributing significantly to Sweden's access to the final.

Commenting on playing a match every two days, Sandell said: “Of course it is very difficult, but we will see what can be done in order to obtain the required rest so that we are fully prepared, physically and technically, for the final.”

Sandell also commentated on what Sweden have shown during the tournament so far: “I think we played very good matches throughout the tournament. We are very proud of what we presented during this tournament in Egypt and we look forward to successfully completing our journey during the final match on Sunday evening.”

In just a few days (3 February), Sandell celebrates his 24th birthday and, looking back at the championship, he believes that Sweden’s 24:23 victory against the host nation was one of the most difficult matches they have had at Egypt 2021, in addition to yesterday's match against France.

“I do not know the identity of our opponent in the final, and it does not really matter to us much, but in any case, it will be a good and very strong match,” said Sandell when asked about the gold medal match directly after the semi-final, we are happy that we will be one of the two parties.”

And about hosting the next IHF Men’s World Championship in Sweden with Poland in 2023 he said: “It will be very amazing. We now have a good team, and it will of course be stronger after two years. It will be great to play the world championship in our stadium and among our fans, and of course that will help us a lot to present a distinguished tournament.”

Sandell concluded his remarks by talking about the difference between participating with the national youth teams and the first team, especially as it is his first participation with the senior side.

“The matches are much faster and stronger,” he said. “It is really fun to play as a representative for the national team and therefore I am happy and proud of my experience here in the championship.”

Translated by Mina Adel Naguib