Even the mainstream U.S. press has picked up the story of Iceland’s surprising run to the Gold Medal game. It’s simply irresistible that a tiny nation of only 300,000 people, with only 3 individual medals in its Olympic history, could secure its first ever Gold Medal. It’s a David vs. Goliath story that is hard not to like, even if you know next to nothing about Team Handball.

But, while Iceland is a clear underdog they also have a strong Handball tradition. They have almost always been good enough to scare the larger nations and often good enough to win a game or two against them. What’s notable about this tournament is that they’ve been able to string together two big victories in a row at the perfect time. Not to mention that the way the ball bounced for seeding their bracket had them avoiding France, Croatia and Denmark before the Final. And now they are in the proverbial one game, anything can happen scenario.

On paper, they shouldn’t stand much of a chance against France. Talent wise, I think that only 5 players (Steffanson, Sigurdsson, Petersson, Geirsson, and Gunnarson) on the Iceland side would even make France’s roster. And of these 5 players, I think only Steffanson and Sigurdsson would play much. The rest of Iceland’s roster consists of players who play in club leagues either 1 notch (Denmark) or two notches (Norway, Iceland) below the German/Spanish leagues. They are decent players, but they also are a step down talent wise.

But while they might come up short in a player per player comparison, their great team chemistry means that the total sum of their performance is far greater than the individual parts. They’ve also proven that they can beat the mighty French side, having done so in a convincing 32-24 trouncing of Les Bleus in preliminary round competition at the 2007 World Championships. More recently, however, Iceland suffered a 30-21 loss to France at the 2008 European Championship just 7 months ago in Norway.

Up and down performance, is a clear trend with Iceland. In June, they surprised many by beating a resurgent Swedish side to capture one of the last spots for the Olympic Games. Then two weeks later, they failed to qualify for the 2009 World Championships, losing to relative newcomer Macedonia in a two game playoff. Even their performance in Beijing has been unsteady, with losses to South Korean and a draw vs. Egypt blemishing their record in the preliminary rounds.

Is it time for the up and down Iceland roller coaster to come down again? My head says France wins going away. My heart says Iceland, Iceland, Iceland.

[b]Media Articles on Iceland Handball[/b]
New York Times: In Handball, Iceland Will Try for Its First Olympic Title: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/sports/olympics/23iceland.html?ref=sports
USA Today: Tiny Iceland on verge of handball glory, sans Bjork: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/team/2008-08-20-iceland-handball_N.htm
USA Today: Iceland eyes gold medal in handball: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/team/2008-08-23-iceland-handball_N.htm
Washington Post Sports Blog: Icelandic Handball: Magic Elves, Cured Shark and Existentialism: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2008/08/icelandic_handball_magic_elves.html
Washington Post Sports Blog: Scenes from Iceland's Handball Triumph: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2008/08/scenes_from_icelands_handball.html#more
Washington Post Sports Blog: Icelandic Handball's Finest Moment: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2008/08/icelandic_handball_magic_elves.html
Christian Science Monitor: Iceland’s handball Vikings seek to plunder gold: http://features.csmonitor.com/olympics08/2008/08/20/icelands-handball-vikings-seek-to-plunder-gold/
The Sporting News: Iceland Is So Hot Right Now: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/11111/iceland_is_so_hot_right_now
Reuters: Elf power, Viking rites fire up Iceland: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olympics/idUSSYD18815020080823?sp=true
LA Times Olympics Blog: Medals Per Capita Table Warms Up for Iceland: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/08/medals-per-ca-4.html
Dallas Morning News Olympics Blog: An Update on my New Favorite Sport: http://olympicsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/an-update-on-my-new-favorite-s.html
New Jersey Star Ledger: Men's Handball Team is Miracle in Iceland: http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2008/08/mens_handball_team_is_miracle.html
Associated Press: Historic Performance Captivates Nation: http://www.nbcolympics.com/handball/news/newsid=255769.html

Some close and controversial matches have made it clear to me that the IHF should seriously consider a major overhaul of the official rulebook to address play in the final minute of matches. Here are some of the problems that often arise and how the IHF could fix them.

[b]1) Determining whether the ball crossed the line before or after time expires is extremely dificult.[/b] Television replays of Norway’s last second goal against South Korea clearly show that it did not cross the line before the clock struck 30:00, but in defense of the on court officials it took a frame by frame analysis after the match to make that determination. It was unbelievably close and no one can honestly say that they were 100% sure one way or the other in real time.

[b]SOLUTION: [/b] Change the rule concerning last second shots, so that the criteria is that the player must release the ball prior to time expiring. If the player releases the ball in time then the shot counts if it goes in the goal. Some might argue that this simply changes the decision point and that the referee could still mess up that call. This is true, but the referee has a much greater chance of being in proper position to make the ball release judgment than he does it making an extrapolated 3-d assessment of whether the ball has crossed the imaginary goal line at 30:00.

[b]2) Intentional fouling to stall out the game.[/b] Egypt was chastised on newsgroup forums for not taking out the Russians with an intentional foul at half court prior in the closing seconds of their match. This common tactic has gotten downright ugly in some recent club matches. The EHF has suspended players for unsportsmanlike conduct, but to no avail, this tactic continues. Why, because the incentive of guaranteeing a win is too strong in relation to punishment after the fact.

[b]SOLUTION: [/b]Reward flagrant, intentional fouls in the last minute of a match with a 7 meter penalty throw. Some might say, that this penalty is too stiff, but I say if you want to solve this problem once and for all, this will do it.

[b]3) Official stoppage of the clock in the last minute of a game is inconsistent and at the discretion of the referees. [/b] For instance, a stoppage of play is warranted if a player is fouled and deposits sweat on the court (mop up time), but not if he’s fouled and stays on his feet. Is the stalling team moving out to 9 meters on a free throw fast enough? That’s up to the referee.

[b]SOLUTION:[/b] For the last minute of a match, automatically stop the clock for all stoppages of play. This “basketball” timekeeping solution is so obvious and so simple, why it hasn’t been done already is beyond me. This would eliminate all the bogus stalling and would take the officials judgment on stopping the clock out of the game. Sure, this will change the game in that clever teams won’t be able to manipulate the clock and officials, but what is the problem with that?

[b]4) Penalty shootouts are an unsatisfactory way of deciding a winner. [/b] Well, some might argue with that statement, but other than a few goalies that might enjoy the spotlight there’s generally no one happy in ending a hard fought match with a crap shoot.

[b]SOLUTION: [/b]Play 5 minute overtime periods until one side wins. Yes, yet again another “basketball” solution. But, can you give me any logical reason why a soccer solution is preferred? Soccer has shootouts because it is “scoring challenged” and matches could go on all day. Handball has more scoring and sooner or later (much more likely sooner) one side is going to come out ahead. Additionally, the two halves in extra periods, are excessive and unnecessary; one 5 minute period is sufficient. If it’s still tied, then play another 5 minutes.

Hey, I’ve got a full time job and I can’t always wake up at 3:00 in the morning to watch handball. Besides, I’m a time shifter https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.539 – I don’t have to do that. I can go to work, come home, eat dinner, spend some time with my daughters, put them to bed and then crack open a beer and watch the France-Croatia semifinal match in peace and quiet.

You’ve got to be careful, though, if you don’t want to know the outcome before its over. It’s best to have your wife go to the NBC website, just in case the link to the video player says something like France beats Croatia 32-31 in overtime. But once you click on the link, enlarge the video player and close the other windows, you’re safe for an hour and a half of handball viewing. Or so I thought.

Yes, some genius at NBC online decided it wasn’t enough to put a header on the actual video player that says: “Men’s Semifinal: France vs. Croatia” No, that wasn’t enough, they had to also add: “France knocks out Croatia to move to the gold medal match.” Exactly, what purpose does that additional information serve? Aaargh. Kind of like watching the Empire Strikes back with a banner at the top stating, “Luke Skywalker discovers Darth Vader is his father”

But, fortunately, all hope is not lost. I still don’t know the outcome of Spain – Iceland and I’ve learned my lesson. Yes, my wife will now check the video player banner and yes, you guessed it, she will put electrical tape on the computer monitor to hide any offending text.

This blog post gives away the result of one of the quarterfinals so click on "read the rest" for the story.

The South Korean Men were not expected to advance to the quarterfinals. Instead they surprised many observers by winning their Group with victories over European sides Denmark and Iceland. Alas, their dreams of medaling were dashed by a veteran Spanish squad in the quarterfinals. But, what is perhaps even more remarkable is that they wouldn’t even have been in Beijing at all, if it weren’t for the unprecedented decision by an arbitration court earlier this year. In a nutshell, a fixed match at the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament had given Kuwait the Asian slot at the Olympics. It was only through the proliferation of a Korean News report of the tournament posted on the internet that a groundswell movement was started to replay the Asian tournament.

[b]Arbitration Report resulting in Korea going to the Olympics: [/b]https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.535
[b]Korean News Report:[/b] http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-908556008345758262

Oh, and how about another remarkable fact about the Korean Handball. Their squad features the all-time leading scorer in the German Bundesliga: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.507