Flash quotes: Sweden 29:20 Bosnia and Herzegovina
MANNHEIM - Comments from Bosnia and Herzegovina line player Adin Faljic (BIH), Sweden centre back Felix Claar (SWE) and left wing Hampus Wanne (SWE) after Sweden beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 29:20 in preliminary round group E at the SAP Arena on Thursday.
Adin Faljic (BIH) - line player
On the first game:
“Too bad we did not manage to keep our concentration high when we came to three goals behind to have a good result at the end. You should never stop dreaming of a possible surprise. But we lacked more strength and experience and lost by nine at the end.”
On him being Bosnia and Herzegovina's top scorer:
“Wow, I even didn't know. I am glad to hear it. For me, it is great I have positively opened the European Championship. I hope the upcoming matches will be even better for me and the team.”
On a strong support from the stand:
“We were expecting it. There are a lot of people from our country living near Mannheim. I am very thankful to them for keeping the atmosphere high. They're our wind in the wings and I hope they will stick with us until the last match here in SAP Arena.”
Hampus Wanne (SWE) - left wing
On the winning start of the title defence:
“It was a good game for us at the end. Bosnia and Herzegovina usually plays the type of handball we don't want to play, they play slow all the time and have a great goalkeeper in Benjamin Buric. They kept the game tight for some part of the game and it was good for us also because most of the games at the European Championship are going to be like that.”
On Player of the Match award:
“I always enjoy playing and today was no different. Since Glenn Solberg came to the helm he gave me a lot of responsibility and he keeps on doing it, so my job is to go on the court, score goals and play for the team but it doesn't matter if it's nine or one.”
On the next opponent, Georgia:
“They are an unknown team and we need to be at our best. They are playing it for the first time and if they are here it means they can play well. It will be fun to play against them and to see what kind of handball they play in Georgia.”
Felix Claar (SWE) - centre back
On the decisive moment for the win:
“In the last 15 minutes, we talked about how the game is going too slow and that we need to speed it up at the moment they closed the gap. We needed to be more aggressive in the defence and find some steals and we managed to do that.”
On the Bosnian fans in the SAP Arena:
“Bosnian fans were amazing. I didn't see them at warm-up and when I came on the court I was surprised. They were very loud. It was good to play in an atmosphere like that.”
