Handball is something I knew nothing about before I came here. I thought that handball was like racquetball, but played with your hands. Lucky for me, I find myself in Iceland in the middle of the World Championship of Handball (Team Handball that is, very different from the racquetball type sport), something that is a very big deal to Icelanders.
Photo from BBC, photographer uncredited.
Anything that's a big deal has vevuzelas.
Iceland generally does quite well at handball. They won silver in the 2008 Olympics. And for such a small country, being able to beat other countries at anything is a big deal for national pride (see also Eurovision). Last World Cup they came in third, and everyone has very high hopes for this time.
Handball is a sport that I can really only describe as a cross between soccer and basketball. Teams of six try to throw a small ball into the opposite teams net. You can only take so many steps without dribbling or passing. And the really cool thing to me is that since the ball bounces, and the net is on the ground, you can bounce the ball around the goalie into the net.
Image Creative Commons from Wikimedia
Watching the past few games, it's really a very fast paced, very fun game to watch. And though I've only been here two weeks, I've developed an intense national pride when it comes to sports. The first few games Iceland was unbeatable. We beat Japan by 14 points, which at first, I thought must mean that there was a scoring system like basketball. Nope. One goal is one point. Iceland just rocks. Here's a taste of that game.
Video from krizziix on Youtube.
However, in the second round of the tournament, we've now lost both the games we've played. Not by a lot, but still disappointing. I know everyone here was going in thinking we had a good chance of winning, but the losses to Germany and Spain put that hope on hold. Next game is tonight against France, last years winner. Hopefully we can do better!
Go Iceland!! We'll be thinking about you tonite. where do you go to watch the games?
ReplyDeleteI've just been watching them at home. The station that broadcasts them has been unblocked for the past while, but now it seems that that are not leaving it open to people without a subscription. Which is fair, but they got us hooked with the first few games!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool sounding sport. I wish it were popular in North America, but alas, I thought the same things you did about handball. The photo almost looks like extreme dodge ball with a net
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