Handball record world champion France made a completely surprising mistake at the European Championships. Germany’s last group opponent failed to score more than 26:26 (14:14) against Switzerland and thus missed early entry into the main round in preliminary round group A.
Dika Mem from FC Barcelona (7 goals) and pivot Ludovic Fabregas (6) scored the most goals for the French in front of 13,571 spectators in the sold-out Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, which took place on Tuesday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship , on ARD and on Dyn) will meet the German team. For the Swiss, who lost 14:27 at the start against the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB), circle runner Lukas Laube (9) was the best shooter.
“We could have ended the game earlier in the second half. We missed simple chances, but that’s handball and that’s a European Championship,” said star player Nikola Karabatic. After the clear defeat against Germany, Switzerland played with a mentality of making amends: “It wasn’t a good game for us today. Luckily we didn’t lose.”
As in the first match against North Macedonia (39:29), the French started the game poorly. Because Switzerland director Andy Schmid (5 goals) repeatedly put his teammates in the spotlight and France goalkeeper Remi Desbonnet barely got a hand on the ball, the game remained open for a long time.
Spain beats Romania
After the break, the French defense hardly worked any better. The six-time World Cup champion did not shine against the bravely fighting Swiss, who had the majority of the audience on their side. One minute before the end of the game, France’s Melvyn Richardson hit the post with a seven-meter shot. Afterwards even Switzerland still had a chance of winning.
“It’s more than satisfaction today. We’ve rarely been as pissed off as we’ve been in the last few days. We knew we were better,” said Schmid.
Austria won a point against Croatia in Group B and therefore has a good chance of reaching the main round. The team around Bundesliga star Nikola Bilyk from THW Kiel never gave up against the three-time European Championship runners-up and celebrated a 28:28 (12:14) victory in the end. Hungary qualified for the next round early on Sunday thanks to a 28:27 (14:13) win against Serbia.
In Mannheim, the Croatians started well in front of 13,293 spectators before fading (5:1/4.). In the heated final phase they still had the opportunity to win. But the last throw didn’t go into the goal. In addition, a quarter of an hour before the end, Ivan Martinovic from MT Melsungen injured his shoulder.
Frank Heike, Berlin Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Frank Heike and Christopher Meltzer Published/Updated: Recommendations: 13 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
In the second game of Group A, Spain came back after the 29:39 defeat at the start against Croatia and beat Romania 36:24 (17:12). While the Iberians can still hope to advance before the decisive duel with Austria on Tuesday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship and on Dyn), winless Romania has to return home after the preliminary round.
“Nobody expected the game against Croatia to turn out like this. We knew it would be hard, but the way the game went, it was hard,” said Spain backcourt player Joan Canellas. “Even if it wasn’t perfect against Romania, when you fall so low, it’s not easy to get up again. We did it.”
Montenegro has already been eliminated. Coach Vlado Sola’s team lost to Iceland in the early game of Group C by just 30:31 (15:17). The Scandinavians, where keeper Björgvin Gustavsson secured the victory, now have it in their own hands. However, the group leader Hungary once again presented themselves with strong nerves in Munich.