How things went Sweden’s way at the EHF EURO 2010

There was a sense of surprise in the air six years ago when Sweden had reached the final of the Women’s EHF EURO 2010 in Norway and Denmark.

Only a minority had expected the Scandinavian nation to get that far. However, up until the final, which was played in front of 11,000 spectators, a record attendance for women’s handball at EHF EURO events, Sweden had won six matches and lost just one.

“Things just went our way that December. We had a good and team and functioned very well together. We really enjoyed playing in full arenas in our neighbouring countries, Norway and Denmark,” remembers Matilda Boson.

The left wing was one of Sweden’s key players in 2010 and is the third player to feature in ehf-euro.com’s “Heroes of the Finals” series, with Norway’s Kari Mette Johansen and Kristine Lunde-Borgersen being first and second.

Boson scored 15 goals throughout the tournament and played an important part in her team’s impressive performance that included a 24:19 main round win against Norway in Lillehammer.

“That win gave us a good amount of self-confidence when it turned out that we were meeting Norway again in the final,” says Boson.

“We believed that we would be able to beat them and become European champions. However, Norway are Norway, and they are always best when things are being decided, and that was also the case in that final in Herning.

“If you fall three or four goals behind against Norway, you are really in trouble, and this was exactly what happened to us, and from then on, there was not much we could do. However, looking back, winning silver was obviously a fine achievement.”

Working for Swedish handball and the EHF EURO

Boson played 208 internationals before ending her international career after the 2012 London Olympics.

These days, at the age of 34, handball still plays a huge part in her life. As the marketing director in the Swedish Handball Federation, Boson promotes handball in Sweden on a daily basis.

Furthermore, promoting the EHF EURO 2016 this December in Sweden takes up a great deal of her work schedule.

“Things are going really well with regards to promoting the EURO,” she says. “I’m sensing really big interest for the event. For example, Sweden’s opening match (against Spain on 4 December) is almost sold out, and we are also sensing huge interest for Sweden’s other matches as well as for many of the other matches in the competition, so it is a really nice job at the moment.”

While she admits that she has to remain neutral in her event function, she can still cheer a bit for her own team.

“It’s a unique opportunity for Swedish handball to have the EHF EURO here, and a unique chance for our national team to present themselves in their best way in front of their own spectators,” says Boson who was part of the Swedish team in 2006 when Sweden also hosted the Women’s EHF EURO.

Two years ago, at the EHF EURO 2014 in Hungary and Croatia, Sweden won bronze, and Boson is not ruling out the chance of more silverware for Swedish women’s handball.

“The group our team has been drawn to (they will face Spain, Slovenia and Serbia) definitely does not look impossible and neither does their way further on in the tournament.

“I think Sweden has a really strong team at the moment, and with the right support from their home crowd, they can go far,” she believes.