Mathias Gidsel and all the other Danish world champions really let it rip in the elegant ambience of the Taket Club. The exuberant celebration above the rooftops of Oslo was a fitting end to the almost three-week handball party for the Danish gold medallists, before they and their families are expected in Copenhagen on Monday afternoon for the town hall reception with a traditional pancake meal.
"It's bloody typical Danish to become world champions," said a jubilant Gidsel. After the thoroughly one-sided final against Croatia (32-26), the outstanding world handball player from Füchse Berlin - once again MVP and leading scorer of the tournament - was only saying what everyone was thinking. Four World Championship titles in a row: never before has a team dominated handball like this.
Match centre: Croatia vs. Denmark
Denmark not "only" ascended the World Championship throne for the fourth time in a row, but did so with unprecedented aplomb. "That's a bit scary," said Eurosport expert Pascal Hens. Nine wins in nine games - seven of them with a double-digit difference, two of which were "only" by a six goal-margin - are evidence of a superiority that raises questions: What is it that the Danes do better than everyone else? What is the reason for their success?
Firstly, there is the fantastic generation of players around Gidsel. Enormous talent combined with sheer endless energy, a childlike enthusiasm for the game and a huge hunger for success make for an powerful mixture. Added to this is Nikolaj Jacobsen, an insatiable coach who is not satisfied with anything less than the perfect game.
It might seem a little quirky when the long-serving Bundesliga player and coach berates his stars after a technical error when leading by ten goals in the World Cup semi-final. But that doesn't detract from his popularity with fans and players. On the contrary. The fact that Jacobsen never rests his regular players and even allows Gidsel to play almost all nine games fits in with his philosophy. Since Jacobsen took over the Danes in 2017, they have not lost any of their 37 World Cup matches. Including the Olympic gold medal last summer, Jacobsen's collection of titles with the Danes currently stands at five.
Idols and heroes
Of course, the Danish national team also benefits from the importance of handball in Denmark, which is right up there with football among the Northern Europeans. International matches are always sold-out events, and Gidsel and Co. are regarded as idols by young people. Another reason for the small neighbouring country's current lead is often cited by German handball officials in this way:
"Danish children spend their afternoons in the countless sports halls that are open to everyone," said coach of Füchse Berlin, Bob Hanning, in his column for Bild am Sonntag, "in Germany there is only strictly regulated access to fixed training times. We need to improve this quickly in dialogue with politicians."
Even then, however, there is no quick end in sight to Denmark's dominance. Key players such as Gidsel (25), centre back Simon Pytlick (24) and goalkeeper Emil Nielsen (27) are still quite young - and with a view to the next tournament, there is still an ambition to win the European Championship title which would mean that Denmark would be reigning champions of the European - and World Championsips as well as the Olympic Games.
The fact that Denmark will play all of its matches at the 2026 European Championships in Herning is likely to cause further unease in the handball world. After all, as Gidsel said confidently during the golden days of the World Championships this year, "with our fans behind us, it's virtually impossible to lose there".