Thanks to a highly close 27-26 semifinal victory against Hungary Sweden have reached the Olympic final  - something very special for both Swedish coaches.

 

Semifinal 1: Sweden – Hungary 27-26 (15-12)

Staffan OLSSON and Ola LINDGREN (SWE) find themselves in their fourth Olympic men’s handball final, but this one is different - it's their first as coaches.

The Swedish coaching duo hope to break the curse after their current team beat Hungary in a thrilling semifinal on Friday, 27-26 (15-12). Both coaches were members of the Swedish squad who contested three consecutive Olympic finals in 1992, 1996 and 2000, but went home with silver on all three occasions.

Sweden will face either France or Croatia in the London 2012 Olympic Games men's handball final on Sunday (12 August) at the Basketball Arena, while Hungary compete for the bronze medal against the loser of that second semifinal.

The top scorers in a nailbiting match, which was close to going into extra-time, were Niclas EKBERG (SWE) with six goals and Gabor CSASZAR (HUN) with eight goals.

Surprisingly, both teams did not start with the goalkeepers who had been integral to their teams reaching the semifinal. Sweden substituted Johan SJOSTRAND (SWE) with Mathias ANDERSSON (SWE) and Roland MIKLER (HUN) played for Hungary instead of Nandor FAZEKAS (HUN) in the first half. Out of the two, ANDERSSON (SWE) especially showed some class with important saves.

However, his team was behind in the starting period, but gradually started improving minute-by-minute and had their best spell when they were a man short thanks to three two-minute suspensions in the first half. Scoring four goals during the periods with one player less on the field meant a psychological advantage and led to a deserved 15-12 halftime result.

EKBERG and his teammates continued in the fast lane at the start of the second half. Thanks to their smooth counter-attacking moves, the Scandinavians controlled this period.

But led by FAZEKAS, who returned to the goal after the break, and the goals of CSASZAR, Hungary caught up to trail 24-23 in the 52nd minute, forcing the Swedish coaches to take a time-out.

The match was on edge, with both teams becoming nervous in attack and missing a number of 100% chances. Hungary were close to equalising on several occasions, but were foiled by ANDERSSON, as the Scandinavians tried to tie up the match.

21 seconds before the end, Kim EKDAHL DU RIETZ (SWE) hit the net to make it 27-25 for his side but after Ferenc ILYES (HUN) reduced the difference to just one goal, Sweden had a nervous few final seconds before the biggest success since their European championship title in 2002 was confirmed.

 

Statements after the match:

Coach Staffan OLSSON (SWE): "I am almost speechless right now and my head cannot take in what has happened. This is such a great result and performance for the team and the country. It means so much for us to reach the final here in London. We had targeted the quarterfinals and then the semifinals. Now we are in the final and have at least a silver medal waiting. But it would be wonderful to turn it into gold. The quarterfinal win was very emotional and exciting and this win over Hungary was the same. It could have gone either way near the end. Fortunately, we came out on top and it feels wonderful. We are not chanceless in the final. Whoever we play it will be a tough game. But this game with Hungary was tough and we showed what a good team we are. I have real faith and belief in this team. It has real fright and desire to succeed."

 

Player Niklas EKBERG (SWE): "This is the greatest victory of my life so far. To reach the final is a dream which we had coming into the Olympic Games. Now we have done it we don't want the dream to die in the last game. We are there in with a shout, and over sixty minutes the best team will win. We will give it everything we had to make sure we turn the silver into gold. I know the whole of Sweden will be hoping we can."

 

Player Kim ANDERSSON (SWE): "We played as well as we can. There is still one more match and everything has to work in that one as well. We played quite offensively and tried to pass the ball around and disturb Hungary. It is definitely the greatest moment in my whole career with the national team. We are going for gold but we will enjoy this moment first. We will go out and do our best. It doesn't matter who we meet in the final."

Coach Lajos MOCSAI (HUN): "We were really slow in the first half, and the team lost their stamina. We missed so many goals in the first half and in the second half we changed our defence, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. We missed three shots in the last three minutes and those three goals could've changed the whole game and we could've gone through."

Player Nandor FAZEKAS (HUN): "We missed all the important moments in the match, in the second half we were playing better, but it wasn't enough - we lost our stamina. In the first half we were leading but it's at the end of the match that the decision on who wins gets made. Our defence was weak - this can't happen at this point in the tournament. I am really proud of how far we came, but I was really dreaming of winning."

Player Laszlo NAGY (HUN): "We missed goals and lost important chances in the game. It was the missed goals and unstable defence which made us lose.”