Palicka: "I'm not getting into that discussion"

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Palicka: "I'm not getting into that discussion"
Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

They are the reigning Olympic and European champions. But in the Olympic Games in Paris, France's handball heroes have had a disastrous start with two major defeats. Their form curve will probably come as an explosion, says Sweden's team captain Andreas Palicka.

The Swedish national team met the media in the Olympic Village on the morning after the fine 29–26 win against Spain.

The situation in the second group was one of the topics of discussion.

France suffered a first defeat in the premiere when Denmark won with eight goals in a replay of the European Championship final earlier this year. The next blow came on Monday evening against Norway, which defeated "Les Bleus" with five goals.

After two matches, the big home favorite is on zero points.

I am completely convinced that France will get going, we all know their capacity, says Andreas Palicka, who is a club teammate with several of the Frenchmen in Paris Saint-Germain.

Does not want to speculate

France will in any case have a hard time reaching a top position in their group. And thereby, the risk increases that Sweden will face the French stars already in a quarterfinal – if Sweden finishes first or second in their group.

But it is a hypothetical discussion that Palicka completely wants to avoid.

I don't get into that discussion for five kronor, you should know.

Dream opponent or nightmare opponent – does it even exist nowadays? I don't actually know. It's about doing as well as you can and then you can't influence what everyone else does. We can come last in the group, we can also come first. That's our reality, says the 38-year-old ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Slovenia.

"Only tough matches"

The Slovenians were defeated by Sweden in the European Championship in January, but unlike then, Barcelona star Blaz Janc is now part of the team. Just like Sweden, Slovenia has two points, after following up the initial loss to Spain by defeating Croatia.

On paper, this is probably one of the toughest Olympic tournaments that have been played, it's only tough matches. Some results that have occurred now might not have been predicted, but it only shows the strength of all the teams that are here, says Palicka.

A few hours after Sweden's afternoon match against Slovenia, France gets the chance to take their first Olympic points in the meeting with Egypt.

Group A: Germany, 4 points, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, and Croatia, all 2 points, Japan, 0 points.

Wednesday's matches: Croatia-Germany (11.00), Spain-Japan (14.00), Slovenia-Sweden (16.00).

Group B: Denmark and Norway, 4 points, Hungary and Egypt, 2 points, France and Argentina, 0 points.

Wednesday's matches: Norway-Hungary (9.00), France-Egypt (19.00), Denmark-Argentina (21.00).

The four best teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals, which will be decided in Lille next week. The winners of each group will face the fourth-placed team in the other group, while the second-placed teams will meet the third-placed teams.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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