29-year-old Sebastian Karlsson made his first championship during the EC.
Photo: Ludvig Thunman/Bildbyrån
After a strong first half, Sweden struggled in the second half against Germany. The six-goal lead shrank, and with five minutes left to play, the score was just 31–29 to Sweden.
Then Felix Claar found Sebastian Karlsson on the right wing. The 29-year-old, on a regular basis in Montpellier, then chose to coolly lob the ball over Germany’s two-metre-tall goalkeeper Andreas Wolff.
– I don’t usually decide before where I’m going to shoot. But I saw that he secured it by taking long hips earlier, and when I saw that he was out, I had to do something else, says Karlsson.
He admits that it was a bit dramatic with a lob at the decisive stage of the match.
– I kind of had a heart attack there. It wasn’t planned. But that’s what happens. It went well.
Happy with the debut
The 29-year-old is satisfied with his first championship.
– Overall, it has been great fun for me as a debutant. Really fun to be here. It cannot be avoided that there is a big cloud over it after what has happened in recent days, he says, referring to the semi-final against France where Sweden was only seconds away from a final place.
– We made the best of the situation and won this match as well. I think it’s insanely strong of us.
With the EC bronze, Sweden is now ready for the Olympics this summer. The games are arranged in France, and Karlsson naturally hopes to be in Glenn Solberg’s squad for the highlight of the summer.
– If I join that squad, it would be crazy fun. It would have been extremely large, he says.