Sweden's handball team was able to secure continued play in the intermediate round of the European Championship in Malmö Arena via a 38–29 win against Georgia - Wednesday's meeting with Croatia will be a pure group final.
HK Malmö's top scorer Nikola Roganovic, 19, had his breakthrough in Saturday's opener against the Netherlands with seven goals, six of which were penalties, in a 36-31 victory.
"I feel pretty safe"
Against Georgia, he scored six goals. This time, only two of them were penalties, but he was once again 100% from the seven-meter line.
"I think I'm good from the seven-meter, both in training and in matches. So I feel pretty confident there," says Roganovic, who came on after about 18 minutes and played just over 22 minutes.
Earlier, first penalty taker Hampus Wanne had missed one of two penalty attempts. Against the Netherlands, the 32-year-old left-back scored one of two penalties before Roganovic took over.
Are you going to take over as the first penalty taker?
"I don't know. We'll see. I feel pretty comfortable there. I think Wanne is very reliable from the seven-meter too but he's been a bit unlucky. The most important thing is that we score the penalties," says Roganovic.
However, the 19-year-old said he would not refuse if asked.
"No, I will never refuse responsibility."
National team coach Michael Apelgren:
"Yes, that's a good question. We'll see how we do. But it's clear that those who are in form might be prioritized. We'll see."
"Of course you think about it"
In the first two matches of the European Championship, the national team coach has relied on Mikael Appelgren, 36, in goal. In the opening match he made ten saves (36 percent save rate), but against Georgia he had only five saves from 22 shots in 37 minutes.
Veteran and team captain Andreas Palicka, 39, came on a bit in the second half and made seven saves from 19 shots during his just under 20 minutes on the field.
Should Palicka start against Croatia?
"Of course you think about it. But, as I said before, we are a team of goalkeepers and the most important thing is that together we make a lot of saves," says Michael Apelgren.
