In just a week, national team captain Tomas Axnér will select the squad for the European Championship in Hungary, Austria, and Switzerland, which starts on November 28.
Therefore, this week's two national team matches against Spain may be extra important for Sofia Hvenfelt. She needs to show that her knee is holding up and that she is ready for the European Championship games.
But I don't see it as do-or-die matches. I'm aware that the national team coaches are also keeping an eye on what I do in the club, and I've managed to play three matches. These national team matches will be important, but there are also more matches that will influence the decision, she says.
"Happy and sad at the same time"
Axnér included Hvenfelt in the squad when he realized that her knee was fully recovered and that she had started playing matches for her German club Ludwigsburg.
She'll get some good training sessions and will play in the matches, then we'll make an assessment of how much, what's best for her in terms of workload. She's a player who's relevant for the championship, he says.
Middle six Sofia Hvenfelt got to play in the Olympic Games premiere against Norway last summer. After 25 minutes, a Norwegian player fell over her knee, and that was the end of the Olympic Games.
It was incredibly tough, of course. Frightening. At the same time, I tried to find positive things – being proud and happy about getting my Olympic debut, playing the first match, and being part of the win over Norway. Injuries happen, and sometimes they come at bad times, she says about what she herself calls crisis management of the injury.
I was then quite grateful that it was "only" a ligament that was injured. So, there were many emotions – tough and grateful and sad and happy at the same time. It was tough to follow the girls from home, but I also thought they did a great job, which was uplifting.
Will resemble the Olympic team
The national handball team meets Spain in Eskilstuna tonight and in Gävle on Saturday. Already next week, Axnér will select the European Championship squad. This week's matches will thus be the only ones before the European Championship selection, but it's not something that has any greater significance for Axnér, since it wasn't so long ago that the national team played a championship – the Olympic Games in Paris, where they finished fourth.
Moreover, all players are motivated to continue in the national team. And the basics are in place, he says.
The European Championship squad will therefore likely be quite similar to the Olympic team.
Corrected: In an earlier version, Sofia Hvenfelt's last name was misspelled.
Born: April 23, 1996.
Position: Middle six.
Clubs: Nödinge SK –2012, Önnered 2012–2016, H65 Höör 2016–2020, Copenhagen 2020–2023, Ludwigsburg 2023–.
National team matches/goals: 30/36 (debut 2018).
Championships: World Championship 2023, Olympic Games 2024.
