Still “an experience for a lifetime” for Hansen

Denmark were no new entry to the top rankings in international handball when they celebrated their first Olympic gold medal in 2016, having played the semi-finals at 18 major tournaments prior to that. But they had only raised a trophy twice before 2016, at the EHF EURO in 2008 and 2012.

So Denmark ended a long series of semi-finals without a title at the major championships outside the EURO, but had started a drought at the EHF EURO.

“It’s 12 years since we won, so of course it means a lot for all of us that this time we managed to go to the final in the EURO,” says Hansen, commenting on Denmark’s 29:26 win against Germany in the semi-final in a sold-out LANXESS arena on Friday night.

“We’ve had some trouble in going all the way the last couple of years. So for all of us it’s a great feeling and especially playing against Germany in Germany and winning.”

Five players in the current squad were part of the EURO title-winning team in 2012: Hansen, Niklas Landin, Henrik Møllgaard, Mads Mensah Larsen and Hans Lindberg. Naturally the team has evolved in the 12 years since, and now the highly experienced players are joined by fresh new talents come to the fore in recent years, such as MVP of the 2023 World Championship Mathias Gidsel and All-star Team left back at the same event Simon Pytlick.

“It’s been amazing to see always new guys getting into the team. I’m just amazed about how intelligent they are. They’re so young but still have so much handball IQ,” says Hansen.

“It’s pretty amazing, I would say, to compare it with myself when I started like back in the days in the national team. Like how great they are in the game: they’re good one-against-one, they manage to shoot from outside, they can pass the ball, see the game, at a very young age.”

Hansen has not only been MVP of several major championships, leading Denmark to the title at three of them. His individual accolades also include three-time IHF World Player of the Year, top scorer of five major competitions in his career and all-time most goals at the Olympic Games, plus 14 All-star Team nods across every major competition in handball.

Hansen enters the EHF EURO 2024 final third-ranked on the all-time top scorer list, where he sits just one behind Icelander Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, who played his last EURO in 2020. The leader of the pack is France’s Nikola Karabatic, who is on 295. All three played together for one season at PSG, with Karabatic and Hansen teammates at the French club for seven years.

With five national team titles won and five other medals, Hansen is highly experienced in the high-pressure games such as semi-finals and finals, but that has not made such matches less special.

“I’ve always appreciated being this lucky to play around arenas like this and finals and stuff. And I think every final has its own life, or semi-final or whatever,” says Hansen.

“If you don’t appreciate playing in front of 20,000 German fans in Germany against Germany, then you’re not going to enjoy anything, I think. For a lot of us yesterday, it was an amazing experience, even better when you win, of course. Being able to play in front of all these amazing fans was really an experience for a lifetime.”

The EHF EURO 2024 final brings the interesting situation of two absolute powerhouses in the game who have not raised this trophy for a decade, as France were the team to defeat Denmark in what was the last final appearance for both. Overall, it is the sixth final between the sides since the first in 2011 and the third since 2021. Denmark took the win when they met in the 2023 World Championship trophy game while France were the victors at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Both have made three appearances in the EHF EURO final, with Denmark only losing the one time to France and France winning all three times they played the ultimate match.

“Both teams have more or less the same kind of way to success,” says Hansen. “A great defence, a lot of fast breaks and very good offence, so I think the team who makes the less mistakes tomorrow will win the game.”

Photos © Kolektiff Images