The Greenlanders are competing at the Women’s Handball World Cup as the reigning North American and Caribbean champions – they have no chance at the World Cup. Now it’s against neighboring Iceland.
“Greenland vs. Iceland: The Arctic Travel Battle,” is the title of a travel guide for Greenland on its website. Ten points explain in detail why not only Iceland, but also its huge neighboring island should be worth a trip. There is talk of Vikings, of the northern lights, of warm springs.
The real Arctic battle these days is not taking place in the travel agency, but in the Arena Nord in Fredrikshavn, Denmark. As part of the Handball World Cup, there will be a direct duel between Greenland and Iceland, the two islands in the far north, on Thursday (6 p.m.).
Greenland is number one in North America
On the world map, Greenland and Iceland are close to each other, with their closest points being just 300 kilometers away by sea. Geopolitically, however, Greenland has some special features: the huge island is a self-governing area within the Kingdom of Denmark, but geographically it belongs to the North American continent. Although Iceland lies on both the North American and Eurasian plates, culturally it is European. An intercontinental neighborhood duel is coming up.
On their continents, the two nations perform completely differently in women’s handball: Iceland finds it difficult to celebrate success in Europe, which is full of strong competitors.
Greenland, on the other hand, won the North American/Caribbean Championships in June this year. The Greenlanders were able to prevail against Canada, Mexico, Cuba and the United States. Actually, six to eight teams were supposed to take part – but in the end only five registered. In the final, the Greenlanders beat Canada 17:15.
Iceland: Top scorer Erlingsdottir has already scored 18 goals
At the current World Cup in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, neither of the two nations made it into the main round: Greenland lost all three group games, Iceland at least got one point in the last game against Angola after two defeats. With Sandra Erlingsdottir, the Icelanders also have a top scorer in their ranks: the backcourt player for Bundesliga club TuS Metzingen has already scored 18 goals in the three World Cup games so far.
Now the bottom two of the group in the President’s Cup have to play for their final position. The Greenlandic broadcaster “KNR” has reported in advance that there is a good, young team waiting on the side of the Icelanders. It won’t be an easy start, but there is still hope for the first point at the World Cup.
After the direct duel on Thursday, further games against Paraguay and China follow. The duel does not decide about supremacy in the North Atlantic, but at least about a good starting position for the rest of the tournament.