Iceland review - 2015, Page 56

54 ICELAND REVIEW
SPort
the German capital against Füchse Berlin,
a good team coached by German national
team manager Dagur Sigurðsson. kiel won
the game by 11 goals, 27:38.
It’s as if time is standing still… in a frac-
tion of a second before the referee’s first
blow there’s perfect silence. Then more
than ten thousand throats scream in one
voice: “kiel, kiel, kiel.” aron, the playmak-
er, controls the play, alfreð, the game from
the sideline. But kiel can’t kill the game,
lübbecke is hanging on. at half time, the
score is 13:8 for kiel.
alfreð looks stern when he walks into
the dressing room. He’s not happy with the
first half. later, near the end of the second
half when there’s only one goal separating
the teams, aron tears a thigh muscle. Some people leave the
arena—there’s too much excitement. It isn’t a game for people
with heart problems. In the last two minutes, kiel scores two
goals in a row, winning the game 24:21.
Meeting the press after the game, alfreð gives the visiting
team credit for not giving up, playing a good game of handball.
But he’s not happy with his team’s performance. The morning
after, at training, the atmosphere is light. alfreð takes part; the
55-year-old coach showing the players how to do things, how to
block a shot, how to score. His performance results in laughter
among the team.
later that day, the team boards a bus to Hamburg, from where
they’re set fly to Skopje in Macedonia, via Vienna. There’s a
game in the Champions league the following day. aron is left
injured at home in kiel. For him, it’s a sofa game. On television
he watches his teammates beat Skopje 27:42. *
the ups and downs of a handball game. alfreð and aron hide their faces, disappointed about a penalty miss.