News archive 2005 for the Danish national team in women's handball

• World Championship 2005
• Four nation tournament in France
• Farewell match to Camilla Andersen
• Good draw for the preliminary round of WCh
• Camilla Andersen leaves handball for good
• New players tested and a sad goodbye to Lotte Kiærskou

[December 2005]

World Championship 2005

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Gold: Russia

Silver: Rumania
Bronze: Hungary
4th.: Denmark
5th.: Nederlands

Denmark - Hungary: 24 - 27 (15-14)
We lost bronze and could not give Jan Pytlick the farewell present we had hoped. He ends his career as the national team's trainer with this defeat. We also have to say goodbye to prominent players Mette Vestergaard, Ditte Andersen and Rikke Hørlykke (125 matches today). A very equal first half was the most promising moment to remember.

Denmark-Russia: 24 - 31

Denmark - Rumania: 29 - 33 (13-16)
At some point Denmark was leading 10-7 but that was soon changed to a team run over by the East Europeans. At the end two Danish players were expelled and the team could not cope with that.

Denmark - France: 22 - 19 (11-10) This means that we are ready for the semi-finals. We had to break even to go on, whilst France had nothing to strive for, so the outcome was somewhat predictable.

Denmark - Hungary: 28 - 28
Slow start where Hungary leads, whereas the second half turns the table and Denmark leads. All looks well untill the end where the not very popular referees made some bad decisions. Expells a.o. of Karin Mortensen made so much confusion that the match could just as well have been lost. Again we were lucky also with the results of the other matches.

Denmark - Poland: 33 -28
Louise Mortensen 7, Mette Sjøberg 6, Katrine Fruelund 5, Karen Brødsgaard and Josephine Touray 4, Rikke Hørlykke and Lene Thomsen 2, Mette Vestergaard Brandt, Lene Lund Nielsen and Lise Knudsen 1

After the horrible experience the team got through the final preliminary match without further embarrasement. They also received a present from Brazil, who surprisingly won over Austria and thereby making Denmark go on with maximum points. Bye AustriaNot really deserved but another chance to prove their real worth. This time the motivation was highter and esp. Louise Mortensen showed positive talents.

Denmark - Austria: 35 - 42
One of the worst experiences the team has ever had. No one could explain the total collaps that sent the players stumbling around like confused hens. In previous tournaments we have learned how dangerous it can be to start out with easy matches and then enter the first difficult match in a too relaxed and distracted mood. Karin Mortensen was back in the goal but neither she nor Schmidt could do much, especially with a defense that did not do anything to prevent the Austrians from shooting. Too many technical errors and a fumbling attack.

Denmark - Germany: 27 - 26

Denmark - Angola: 42 - 21
One of those matches that has to be played even though it comes closer to practice. But hey, the African team proved to all us girls, that you can still get on a national team when you weigh close to a hundred kilos and have thighs the size of tree trunks. Who says sports is essential for losing weight? Blaah.

Denmark - Brazil: 31-22 (12-13)

There was a huge difference between the first and second halves. As often before, the Danes had a slow and nervous start, also this time with many debutant, a.o. Lene Thomsen and Wangsøe. Not much support was to be found from the absent audience in Skt. Petersburg. Not much seemed to work on the field either, neither in defense, attack or goal, where Rikke Schmidt did not catch much. Brazil leads the entire first half and has a strong goalkeeper, who knows Fruelund from their common club in Leipzig, Germany. It is very easy for them to get their goals..

In the second half the table turns and the Danes catch up to a permanent lead. The players seem to have found the way again and things look brighter. Karin Mortensen was spared because of some troubles with her back. Hopefully, she will be back again, as Pytlick has only brought two goalkeepers this time.

[November 2005]

Two tournaments (World Cup and Møbelringen Cup) proved that the team has to work hard to get the new players adapted and to find the previous will to win. But during the second tournament in Norway the team shaped up and managed not only to win big over Norway but also to come out first in the tournament. Now the team has been chosen for the World Championship in Russia. New players to get to know again.. this time you will have to get aquainted with Louise Mortensen, Jane Wangsøe, Kristina Hansen and Lene Lund Nielsen.

[October 2005]

Four nation tournament in Paris

The tournament had participants from Denmark, France, Norway and Germany. Yet again there are many new names on the Danish team, who will need a long period of adaptation to the new roles. This also showed, particularly in the first match against Norway, which we lost 24-33. The next match against Germany proved, that they were able to learn and get to know each other better, a match which was won 29-25. The team could also have won the last match against France, but a solid lead was thrown overboard during the last five minutes and the match ended 28-28 (14-13). Fruelund and Mette Vestergaard are back after a longer break.and especially the first mentionned played a major role. Rikke Skov had an injury, which will send the very unlucky player back on the bench for yet a period of time.

[August 2005]

Camilla Andersens testimonial match - Last goodbye to handball

It may seem like a sad day, when we can no longer enjoy our "national heroine" do magic on the court. But to Camilla, it is the right time to move on to new challenges and devote all her time to her travel agency, friends and family. This day, she had invited good old friends over for a fun game, supported by a large audience and us tv spectators out there. It was nice to meet the women from the national team's "golden years" even though some of them had not played handball for a while and could only participate for a couple of minutes. The club team was put together of players from her former clubs FIF/FCK, Slagelse and German team Buxtehude.

Club team: Melanie Schlieker, Mette Melgaard, Pia Andersen, Andrea Bölk, Anne Loft, Maria Høepfner, Stinne Bossen, Line Hougaard, Ausra Fridrikas og Irina Poltoratskaya. Coach Anja Andersen.

National team: Anja Byrial Hansen, Sisse Bruun Jørgensen, Tonje Kjærgaard, Janne Kolling, Connie Hamann, Tina Bøttzau, Camilla Thomsen, Rikke Hørlykke, Carina Friss, Merete Møller, Marianne Florman, Maybrit Nielsen and Karina Jespersen. Coach Jan Pytlick.

Anja made a speech, telling her good friend how much she has meant to Slagelse and to Danish Handball. Camilla did not quite know what to do with herself, when Anja proclaimed. "You are the greatest talent I have ever met in Danish team handball!" Anja also honoured Camilla by hanging her 73-shirt on the wall of fame in the stadium (next to Ausra Fridrikas), promising that henceforward no one else would carry that number on the team in Slagelse. Furthermore, the arena would be named after Camilla. What next, we could only sigh: A statue? Her face on stamps and bank notes?

[July 2005]

World Championship in Russia - Good draw of opponents

National team coach Jan Pytlick is only happy about the teams that were drawn to be Denmark's opponents in the preliminary round: Poland, Austria, Brazil, Ivory Coast and Germany. All well-known teams, but Brazil may be able to surprise just because they have an unfamiliar style.

Results from tournament in Korea:

Korea - Denmark 28-24 (15-11)
Denmark - China 32-26 (18-11)
Denmark - Japan 35-23 (17-12)
Denmark - Ukraine 21-22 (10-13)
Korea - Denmark 35-30 (17-10)

[April 2005]

Now we have to say goodbye to one of our best and most internationally well-known players: Camilla Andersen will play her last match, not only for FCK but for her sport alltogether. In the future she wishes to concentrate on her travel agency, and she feels that she has done all she could ever dream of with handball. Get nostalgic on my old Camilla pages.

[March 2005]

Three matches against Hungary were to test the many new players, some of which may get a solid career on the A-team, which is being built up towards the next Olympics.

Louise Bager Nørgaard, Viborg HK, Karin Mortensen, Ikast/Bording, Rikke Schmidt, Slagelse, Mette Iversen, GOG, Rikke Skov, Viborg, Louise Pedersen, Aalborg, Lene Thomsen, Kolding, Mia Falk, Horsens, Anette Bonde Christensen, Kolding, Berit Kristensen, Randers, Louise Haahr Mortensen, Aalborg, Laura Danielsen, Randers, Lene Lund Nielsen, GOG, Lise Knudsen, Ikast/Bording, Trine Jensen, Aalborg, Mette Sjøberg, Horsens, Lene Tobiasen, FCK Håndbold.

Two matches were lost, one ended 27-27. Not very impressive play from either side, the young Danes were eager to show their worth, but maybe for that reason made many mistakes and techical errors. The coach was satisfied with the performances of Lene Thomsen, Mia Falk and Louise Mortensen. Sjøberg was being tested as a new type of playmaker, but her usual position is that of left back.

The last of these three matches was also a very sad goodbye to one of the teams most outstanding players, Lotte Kiærskou. Her many injuries have led her to choose her team Viborg and skip the national team, as she simply could not handle the strain from both obligations. Lotte started as a big talent in 1996 and has since then collected many gold medals in both championships and the Olympics. She ended her time on the national team with 111 matches and 414 goals and in the same place where it all began in Frederiksberg. Her plans for the future are directed towards becoming a handball trainer.

-> Read the archive for 2004