It became clear when national team manager Thorir Hergeirsson on Tuesday named the squad that will play the EC in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland in November and December.
Similar and different
Odense pro Thale Rushfeldt Deila has already won the Olympics and EC and has 49 international caps. Twins and Esbjerg player Live has six international matches.
– They are quite similar, but also different. Live is robust and has some of the same characteristics as sister Thale. She’s going in to do the job. No bullshit, said Hergeirsson about the withdrawal.
The two played an international match together for the very first time recently. Now there will also be championship participation for the daughters of football profile Ronny Deila.
They also have sporting genes from their mother’s family. Uncle is Sigurd Rushfeldt.
Also in the Norwegian EC squad is another pair of Norwegian twins: Silje Solberg-Østhassel and Sanna Solberg-Isaksen.
– The main task is always to take out the crew we think is best for Norway. There are good players who join and are selected out, said national team manager Hergeirsson.
Star decay
After the Olympic gold in Paris in August, several key players are gone from the Norwegian women’s national team. Captain Stine Oftedal Dahmke (laid up), Nora Mørk (pregnant), Veronica Kristiansen (pregnant) and Vilde Ingstad (injury) are all unavailable for the upcoming EC play-offs.
So is Marie Davidsen, who has been Norway’s third goalkeeper for a period. She is also pregnant.
As a result, several far less meritorious players were in the squad presented by national team manager Hergeirsson on Tuesday. One of them is Storhamar goalkeeper Eli Marie Raasok.
Storhamar duo Ane Cecilie Høgseth and Anniken Obaidli are also in the heat. The latter is a championship debutant at the age of 29 and a small surprise in the squad.
Hergeirsson has already led Norway in his last game on Norwegian soil. After the EC, he is done with the job and will be replaced by Ole Gustav Gjekstad. Thus, an era is over in Norwegian handball.
– What will I do next year on this day? I will probably experience withdrawal, said the Icelander on Tuesday.
Great favourites
Hergeirsson said during the last meeting in October that he hopes to have eleven games left before he retires. In that case, the EC final in Vienna is included in the tally for the Icelander.
Norway has won the last three European championships and, despite the decline of the stars, must settle for being big favorites this time as well. In 2022, there was a final victory over Denmark with 27-25.
This year’s EC will be the first with 24 teams. Norway meets Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia in the group stage in Innsbruck, Austria. The first match will be played on 28 November.
In the run-up to the championship, the EC squad will play the Golden League tournament in Denmark on 21, 23 and 24 November. Qualified opponents await there in the form of Denmark, Romania and the Netherlands.