Faroe Islands entered the 2017 IHF Men’s Junior (U21) World Championship as debutants at a major international tournament, and had a dream start when they recorded two victories to open their campaign. First, the European team defeated Chile 31:28, then beat Republic of Korea 28:27 in Round 2.
After the two victories, Faroe Islands enter Round 3 with four points, placing them on top of Group A alongside Germany and Norway, while Korea, Hungary and Chile all remain on zero. The team are therefore in a strong position to reach the knock-out stage, which will be an impressive feat at their first World Championship in any age category or gender.
ihf.info spoke with Faroe Islands coach Sonni Larsen after their victory against Korea about their Algeria 2017 campaign so far and what is to come.
ihf.info: What do you think of your team’s performance so far?
Sonni Larsen: Fantastic. We played much better today, and it was much needed. The guys, the staff and the audience made a great day for our team, so I’m proud I must say.
ihf.info: Did you expect such results before the World Championship?
Sonni Larsen: It’s hard to say because we knew that we were going to meet some very strong teams so we hoped deep in our hearts, and in our minds we focused on what we could do, one game at a time. We don’t look at Germany two games ahead – we look to Norway next, we will do that in a couple of hours, later, and do whatever is possible for us to do.
ihf.info: Your team are making history at this tournament. Is that something you have to take into consideration? It seems it would be easy for their excitement to get in the way of their performance.
Sonni Larsen: We have discussed that a lot with our guys. Obviously they are big stars at home because they are making history right now, but our main focus is always the next game. We have discussed that several times and I think our guys are doing very well with that right now.
ihf.info: Speaking of home, have you seen much of what’s going on? A lot of people are following the team.
Sonni Larsen: A bit. We have looked at the photos and it’s looking very nice, but again we try to focus on what we can do here – not back home or any other places, but right here, that’s important for us.
ihf.info: What is it like for you to play teams from outside Europe?
Sonni Larsen: It’s very interesting. It’s fun to play those other types of handball. I think South Korea did a great job, a very good job, they were a tough team to win against and they played well. It’s interesting for the handball geek to dig down in that.
ihf.info: Next you play Norway. Have you thought much about this game yet?
Sonni Larsen: We have thought about how Norway are a step up from South Korea team, it’s going to be even more difficult but we will try to focus on what we can do. They have great strength all over their team. We have to look at how we can manage that, how we can manage the counter attacks they do. They’re very skilled in that, so we have to break that down. We have looked at some options at home and will try to figure out what’s best. It’s going to be even tougher – we have a chance, but it’s going to be even tougher.