24-29 against Slovenia was a blow that hit the blue-yellow national team hard. It was noticeable when the players and leaders came to the mixed zone after the loss in Paris.
For a national team that has had a string of successful championships in recent years, it's an unusual situation to have started the Olympic Games with two losses in three matches.
The effort against Slovenia was also of the weaker kind.
It's probably the worst national team match I've played, says Felix Claar honestly.
"Bad heel"
Claar had to leave the game at the end of the match with heel problems that had previously been kept secret. When the East Goth stops in the mixed zone, it's clear that it hurts both in the soul and the heel after the loss.
I've been struggling with a bad heel for a while and made it worse when I landed. Now it's high pressure with a match every other day, and it becomes more noticeable. It's not dangerous, it just hurts like hell, says the Magdeburg star.
Claar expects to play against Croatia on Friday, and it's probably a good thing. Midfield colleague Jim Gottfridsson risks being suspended then, after being shown a blue (!) card in the middle of the second half against Slovenia.
"Gotte" was disappointed in himself for putting the team in a tricky situation ("it's clear that the elbow is a bit high up, it definitely hits the face") but also for how the blue-yellow team underperformed against Slovenia.
This is not how we should recognize the Swedish handball national team, but we want to present ourselves in a different way, he says.
Finally, national team coach Glenn Solberg came, equally disappointed as everyone else over Sweden's performance.
Now it's "win or disappear" and we've never been in the situation we're in now under my leadership. Now we have to roll up our sleeves and show what we're made of, he says.
The truth is that Sweden has a small chance of advancing to the quarterfinals even if they only win one of the two remaining matches. But there is also a small risk that they will miss the quarterfinals even with two wins.
"Not even close"
Above all, the game needs to get better if Sweden is to seriously continue dreaming of a first historic Olympic gold.
Felix Claar:
We know we can do so much better than what we've shown. Over three matches, we've had good periods, but I don't think we've been close to the top form we've had in previous championships, I think. I hope we can dig up something.
Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Spain, all four points.
Sweden, two points.
Japan, zero points.
The four best teams advance to the quarterfinals. If two or more teams end up with the same points, the head-to-head matches will decide.
Remaining matches, Friday: Croatia-Sweden, Germany-Spain, Slovenia-Japan.
Sunday: Sweden-Japan, Germany-Slovenia, Spain-Croatia.
