If a blonde guy lets you in at the checkout at “Superbrugsen” or “Føtex” because you only have a pack of rye bread, it could have been Mathias Gidsel. Or Simon Pytlick. This is how the two are introduced in the new book, simply called “Gidsel og Pytlick”, “The Best Couple in the World”. The two have been a handball team since their childhood together in the youth academy of the legendary GOG club.
Her story has been told so many times because it contains a meta-level: Gidsel was considered too small and thin for handball. Pytlick was laughed at at school when he said he wanted to become a professional handball player. As an eighteen-year-old, he was the number three playmaker. Nothing pointed to a world career. This also applied to Gidsel, who played right wing.
After the topic of Greenland comes the European Handball Championship
Now they are among the ten most famous people in the small kingdom. Sure, even these days all of Denmark is talking about Greenland. But immediately afterwards came the analytical and anticipation-filled look at the handball men’s first game on Friday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship and on DYN) in the Jyske Bank Boxen against North Macedonia.
In the preliminary round, national coach Nikolaj Jacobsen’s team will also face Romania and Portugal. Anything other than the final victory on Sunday, February 1st at 6 p.m. would be a disappointment. Because the continental triumph is still missing: Defending the titles at the Olympics, World Cup and European Championships has never happened.
It is always interesting how differently Danish handball players talk about their life in Germany when they are at home. The meeting called “samling” before major tournaments has a legendary character. Everyone is at home together, with the typical dishes, the familiar language, the old jokes and the typical address with the last name: “Pytlick!”, “Gidsel!”
As soon as Simon Pytlick was in Denmark, he complained to TV 2 about his employer SG Flensburg-Handewitt. She didn’t protect him when fans recently branded him with a poster. They didn’t like his planned move to Füchse Berlin. The time will come in the summer of 2027.
The little affair was calculated: it was impossible that Pytlick would ever have opened up to a German medium like that. Years ago, world goalkeeper Niklas Landin mocked the impressive but also inhumane performance ethic at THW Kiel and the German seriousness in his podcast “The Scent of Harz”. Real life takes place in Denmark, sweetened by German euros.
Mathias Gidsel has recently told the Danish media what influence he has at the Foxes, how hard he has worked to strengthen the squad – he was thanked by Dika Mem. With all their humility, with all their grounding, both know their special roles. The highlight is that “Gidsel & Pytlick” will soon be able to recreate their teenage years when they play together in a year and a half at the latest. The Pytlick, Gidsel, Mem series makes the dreams of Berlin handball fans come true.
The fact that the whole thing is taking place under Nicolej Krickau’s leadership is the icing on the cake: the 39-year-old Dane shaped the two of them into national players between 2017 and 2023. By the way, in a special issue on the European Championships, Krickau answered the question of who would stumble at this tournament: “Germany!”
“I could get drunk here”
The truth is that the Danish exceptional artists like their popularity, but Gidsel promoted Pytlick with the anonymity of Berlin: “I could get drunk here and sing ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis in a karaoke bar. Without having to worry about someone filming or photographing me and publishing it.” In Flensburg and Denmark, however, their stated position requires restraint.
Gidsel, with his snake-like movements, weaving between two defenders, his constant effort and ability to carry the whole team along, took the value of an individual to a new level for everyone. Added to this is Pytlick with his signature forearm throw and the ability to hit from long distances. That’s hard to defend. It’s like a hare and a hedgehog – if you think you’ve slowed one down, the ball is already in the other’s court. And tirelessly.
The right picture was taken on August 11, 2024 at the Olympic handball final in Lille, Denmark against Germany. Shortly after the break, the Danes are ten goals ahead. Gidsel still daringly throws himself at the ball, hits a barrier and hurts himself. And holds it in his hands.
“That was the only time that Nicolej said that I should have left the ball. We were leading by ten. But that wasn’t possible. I was in the tunnel. I had to start running! You have to. It’s an Olympic final.” When the score is 39:26, Gidsel has scored eleven goals. Pytlick six.
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