France beat us 28-23. Shit. Iceland started off well, but the game bottomed out for us after about 15 minutes, as soon as France took a significant lead. Have to say, though, they deserved to win – they were a well-oiled machine and their goalkeeper was outstanding.
Some Danish reporter said yesterday that he worried that the Iceland wasn’t hungry enough – that they were already satiated after winning the silver. – Or perhaps they lacked the conviction that we really could be the best. Or maybe France was just a better team [plus they were just so damn good looking!].
Meanwhile, pop. France 62 million, pop. Iceland 300 thousand. And we take the silver medal, so no whining!!
[PS I do believe this is the first handball game I've ever watched in its entirety. Never thought I'd be writing about a sports match in this way. At least that's a first!]
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
oh no! but Iceland is the best anyway!!!!!
Iceland certainly scored many more points per capita. Congratulations on the silver–it’s quite an accomplishment!
What is impressive is that Iceland started catching up to France. Congratulations on winning the silver, Iceland!
… look ahead to 2012 in London, Iceland’s backyard- it will be almost like a home court advantage!
My wife was happy with this result….
Aw! I was so sad to see them lose the gold, but still such a great accomplishment! Congratulations, Iceland!
But if we get all “let’s have some PERSPECTIVE” about this, silver in the olympics means that one team – ONE – is better than the Icelandic one. I’d say that’s pretty darn good, personally.
I’m in denial
i’ve always thought that gold was way overrated. somehow, silver seems so much more…beautiful.
Kate – agreed!
Cat – quite. That’s our favourite mantra: “more [X] per capita!”
Keera – Thanks! Yes, they didn’t give up. But they weren’t having a good day.
Professor – Ok, I’ll buy into that!
Dumdad – but of course!
Jessie – on behalf of the nation – thanks!
Stine – precisely. The silver is nothing to shake a stick at. Which is why nobody is allowed to whine!
Robert – aw. Don’t worry – you’ll be fine.
Doug –
Silver’s already a great achievement! Maybe Iceland will see gold in 4 years time.
Ahhh…. I was so hoping for Gold.
But I guess there’s more silver found in the Viking Age, so it’s all more historically accurate. It’s a weird rationale, but hey…
*sigh*
Lora – who knows. Que sera sera.
Karen – Ahhh yes, so were we all! But silver is still pretty good.
Ísland, stórasta land í heimi!
Am I unpatriotic when I say that I am kinda glad Iceland did not win gold? From all accounts both teams played really well – well done boys for the Silver – a huge feat in itself…
Oh, I was so sad that they lost! But what a game: handball looks like a lot of fun. I hope you’re all proud of their hard-won silver.
Commiserations, and a reminder that I am Canadian (living in the UK), not French. But also congratulations on winning the Silver – that’s still a lot better than most people did.