In 1967 Denmark for the one and only time before had reached the final of the World Championship against Czechoslovakia – and lost. 44 years later the “Danish Dynamite” is back in a final – and this time they’re hoping for their first Gold medal ever. Their best WCh result in the last years was the Bronze medal in 2007 in Germany – by beating France in the Bronze final. And on Sunday in Malmö those two teams meet again, but going for Gold this time.

National coach Ulrik Wilbek, who had led the Danish women’s team to the Olympics and EURO title, took over the men’s team in 2005 – and since then they climbed the ladder of success. Their highlight up to now was the EURO title in 2008 by winning the final against Croatia, at the last World Championship 2009 in Croatia they reached the semi-final but lost – against France. So maybe it’s time for revenge now, but the team has changed.

Wilbek put some fresh blood to the team – and especially those young players are the current Danish heroes in  Sweden: goalkeeper Niklas Landin (22) and left back Mikkel Hansen (23). Both showed an incredible performance in the semi-final against Spain. And thanks to those juniors the Danes hope for the big success: becoming World Champion and qualifying directly for the Olympic Games in London 2012. Denmark is the only spotless team in Sweden, they won all nine matches they played, including victories against Poland, Croatia or Serbia. In the whole tournament they only had one weak period against Argentina, but stood the pressure. Another great advantage in the final is the huge support of Danes in Malmö, thousand of people in red and white will cheer for them on Sunday.

“We are ready for the title,” team captain Lars Christiansen said: “We have a young but stable team – and we play highly successful in Sweden. France has a physical strong team, but we can count on our speed, even as the French defense is brilliant and their attack players are class of their own.” For Christiansen France is the favourite, but: “We are getting better and better. I have a good feeling before the final.”

Right wing Hans Lindbergh, nicknamed “Majestaet” since years for his style of playing, is also eager for the biggest success in Danish men’s handball: “We played superb in Sweden, we reached the final well-deserved and I hope we win the final well-deserved, even as France is a team with more experience. “ Lindbergh is surprised of the improvement of his team: “We have a lot of young players and right before the World Championship we didn’t know where we belong. So first we hoped to reach the Main Round. But we developed quickly: Niklas Landin is an outstanding goalkeeper, Kasper Söndergaard plays the best tournament of his life and Mikkel Hansen is probably the best player in Sweden. The whole team play on absolute top level – but we didn’t count on the final until we had reached it.” Now they’ll have a home match, but Lindbergh believes that this is not the decisive factor: “France stood an even bigger pressure two years ago in Croatia, they are used to it.”

For coach Ulrik Wilbek the final will be a “tough job to do. We have a chance, as we are flying on wings currently. France have the stronger players, but we have team spirit and speed. Let’s wait and see.”