‘Skippy’ goes from EHF EURO heroics to MOTW excitement

What was the most emotional moment of the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 in Germany? France’s dramatic final victory, Elohim Prandi's last-second goal in the semi-final against Sweden, the world record opening night with over 53,000 fans in Düsseldorf?

All were goosebumps moments, but when the Faroe Islands scored a buzzer beater to draw level with Norway (26:26) in a preliminary round match in Berlin, it was like a volcanic eruption.

Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu netted from seven metres and over 5,000 fans from the archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean went completely over the moon. They sang their anthem “Tú alfagra land mítt” (“Oh, my beautiful country”) at the top of their lungs to chill the other 8,000 spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, and then celebrated all night long.

The European Championship debutants had defied the odds against one of the favourites to make their way into the history books of handball. The Faroe Islands were a huge addition to EHF EURO, even if they had to leave after the preliminary round and two defeats against Slovenia and Poland.

“We’ll be back,” says Ellefsen á Skipagøtu, nicknamed ‘Skippy’ in Kiel, who still gets very emotional when looking back on the tournament.

“When you know that 10 per cent of the entire population of your country came to cheer for you, that makes you very, very proud. And we owe the fans a huge thank you. This was a really big deal for our people and for us,” the playmaker says.

“Those were great moments in Berlin when everyone sang the national anthem. And in the end even people from other countries cheered us on because we were likeable outsiders. We now have arrived on the handball map – thanks to our achievements, but also thanks to our great fans.”

The 21-year-old has now returned to everyday life at THW – after 23 goals and 24 assists in three EHF EURO matches. Last the summer, he moved from Swedish club IK Sävehof to Kiel and is one of two Faroese players in the Bundesliga alongside Füchse Berlin’s Hákun West av Teigum.

In the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, Ellefsen á Skipagøtu is already Kiel’s second-best scorer with 33 goals, four less than Niclas Ekberg.

In his first club game after the historic and exhilarating EHF EURO with the Faroe Islands, Ellefsen á Skipagøtu lost with Kiel in the Bundesliga clash against SC Magdeburg last week. Now the big goal is to get back to winning on international level, as Kiel travel to Industria Kielce (and their former goalkeeper Andreas Wolff) for the first MOTW in 2024 on Wednesday (live on EHFTV at 20.45 CET).

After their early elimination in the German cup and facing a seven-point gap to league leaders Füchse and Magdeburg, Kiel focus on going all the way in the Champions League, where they have a three-points lead in group A over joined runners-up Kielce and Aalborg Håndbold.

“Facing Kielce in the MOTW right at the restart of the Champions League is already a pathfinding match for us. We hope to skip the play-offs and to remain on the top position of our group,” says Ellefsen á Skipagøtu.

His ‘wow’ experience in Kiel was the first home game: “It was really extreme to be cheered on by 10,000 fans in the home arena. It still sends shivers down my spine when we play in the Wunderino Arena. Before my home debut in Kiel, I had never played in front of such a large audience and never experienced such an atmosphere, simply great.”

But it wasn't just when it came to training and games that Ellefsen á Skipagøtu had to adapt in Kiel.

“In my first six months at THW, in addition to playing at the highest level, I learned one thing above all: traveling. I have never travelled so much in my entire handball career, neither to Bundesliga nor Champions League games. Of course, I’ve played on international ground with Sävehof before, but we never travelled that much. And sometimes, you can even see something of the cities beside hotels and arenas.”

The back court player, who was the top scorer and All-star Team member at the 2023 Junior (U21) World Championship in Germany, also feels well received in Kiel.

“I was quickly integrated, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a regular player yet. We have so many top players, so we can rotate a lot. Everyone plays his role. My role varies from game to game, from opponent to opponent. Sometimes I’m more of a scorer, sometimes I’m there for assists. In general, I’m always there to help the team, whether I score a goal or give a pass.”

Ellefsen á Skipagøtu still has a dream destination for this first season with THW Kiel – the LANXESS arena in Cologne. After THW missed the final tournament of the German cup, which is also being played in Cologne since last year, the hopes are high to make it to the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 in June.

“After playing with the Faroe Islands in Berlin in front of more than 13,000 fans, it is of course my dream to play in front of 20,000 fans in Cologne,” he says. “I heard that even some fans from the Faroe Islands have already bought tickets – I hope to see them there.”

All photos © 2023 Sascha Klahn