Published 2024-01-26 10.18
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COLOGNE. Andreas Palicka is the most popular in the national team.
And most importantly tonight.
– I feel honored and grateful, he says.
Andreas Palicka had a late breakthrough in the national team.
It first came as a 30-year-old in the 2017 WC – a full ten years after his national team debut.
But the impact was instead all the greater.
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full screen Andreas Palicka. Photo: Pontus Orre
Also topped last time
The last time Sportbladet had a vote among the readers about who is your favorite in the national handball team was during the WC 2021. Then Palicka won a landslide victory with 50 percent of the votes (previous winners had had 34 percent at most). Then his popularity received a boost in the final stages of the voting with the big play in the semi-final victory against France.
But the Swedish people’s love for the charismatic veteran with the spectacular rescues endures.
Now Palicka gets 40 percent of the roughly 15,000 votes, far ahead of runner-up Jim Gottfridsson on 15 percent.
– I feel honored and grateful. Hopefully that means my personality comes through on the TV screen and that makes me happy.
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1 / 2Photo: PONTUS ORRE
Will be much fresher now than in the WC
Tonight, Sweden faces France in a fourth semi-final in four years. Blågult won the WC 2021 and EC 2022, while the French were the best in the WC a year ago.
Common to the two Swedish victories was that Sweden, or rather Palicka, won the goalkeeping match by far. Both times he took three times as many shots as the French goalkeepers. In the loss last year it was even, with a slight advantage for the French goalkeepers, and then France also won the match clearly.
Most agree that Sweden needs to win the goalkeeping match tonight, preferably by a big margin, to have a chance at a final place given the enormous quality the French team possesses in all other positions. Good goalkeeping (and defense) paves the way for the counterplay that Sweden is so dependent on against a top team like France.
In the EC, Palicka has sat in the stands in two matches and played less than a half a game on average overall.
– I remember the pressure you felt throughout the WC last year and when we reached the semi-finals I had five or six games in my legs. Now we have divided the playing time more.
You feel fresher before this semi?
– Definitely. Both physically and mentally, says Palicka.
This is how the semifinals are played in the handball EC
- Friday 17.45: Sweden-France (TV6 and Viaplay – the broadcast starts at 16.45)
- Friday 20.30: Germany-Denmark (TV6 and Viaplay)
The EC final will be played on Sunday 17.45 and the bronze match on Sunday 15.00.
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full screen Photo: Pontus OrreFACTS
Who is your favorite in the national handball team?
Top five
1. Andreas Palicka 40 percent
2. Jim Gottfridsson 15 percent
3. Felix Claar 7 percent
4. Andreas Nilsson 6 percent
5. Jonathan Carlsbogård 5 percent
Footnote: Just over 15,000 people had responded to sportbladet.se on Thursday afternoon. The poll is intended to give an image of what the readers of Aftonbladet.se think. The result may not be representative of everyone and should be interpreted with caution.
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