In what is probably the highest-scoring European Championship of all time, Iceland and Denmark are the best examples of the motto “attack is the best defense”. The semi-finals on Friday (8.30 p.m., live on Erste and in the live stream) could be a real spectacle.
An average of over 62 goals have been scored per game at this European Handball Championship so far – if the remaining five games do not drop this figure surprisingly significantly, it will be the highest-scoring European Championship of all time. There are many reasons for this: a lot of goals into an empty net, extremely high speed and a great focus on attacking play are potentially some of them.
Your own counter-attacks prevent opposing counter-attacks
Iceland and Denmark are prime examples of extremely fast offenses that emerge from defense. The defense waits for counterattacks – and at the same time prevents them.
Because if you score a lot of goals in a fast-paced counter-attack, the majority of the players stay behind and are even better formed when the opponent gets the ball. Fast attacks are the best defense.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper in a direct duel
This means that opponents have to take fewer high-percentage throwing opportunities; the German team was able to experience this firsthand in the main round. And poorly prepared throws from the backcourt are a feast for world-class goalkeeper Emil Nielsen, who has saved the most balls of all keepers in this tournament so far (69).
In second place is his counterpart from Friday: Viktor Hallgrimsson (66). However, he received significantly more throws into his box compared to Nielsen and therefore doesn’t quite have his defense rate. The Icelanders are also supporters of the motto “quick attacks as the best defense”, but they allow slightly more free throwing opportunities in the standing defense than the Danes.
At the club, the 2.03 m tall Hallgrimsson and the 1.95 m long Nielsen form FC Barcelona’s goalkeeper duo. At least for now, because Nielsen is going to Hungary in the summer Veszprem change. Despite their very different techniques, both are without a doubt among the best in their field.
Gidsel and Kristjansson – Lead player highest category
This also applies to Mathias Gidsel and Gisli Kristjansson, the two 26-year-old offensive “masterminds” of the opponents. Denmark’s left-hander Gidsel is beyond any doubt as a multiple world handball player and, with his speed and enormous variability, is a nightmare for any opposing defense.
But Gisli Kristjansson, who triumphed with SC Magdeburg against Gidsels Füchse Berlin in the last Champions League final, has also given many defenders sweaty nights. Among other things, the playmaker was crowned the best player in that same Champions League Final Four. Kristjansson is the best preparer of the tournament – even by a relatively large margin. He provides his teammates with almost seven assists per game. Gidsel is second in this category and averages six in this statistic.
While Gidsel is also tied for first place among goalscorers with 54 goals, Kristjansson is also in the top 25 when it comes to goals from the field (excluding seven-meter throws), but at the bottom end. But the impression is deceptive, because Kristjansson is extremely dangerous when playing in bounds, but he almost never runs his team’s fast counterattacks. Unlike Gidsel, who therefore has an almost outrageously high throw rate of over 73 percent for a backcourt player.
Pytlick, Saugstrup, Magnusson – Bundesliga All-Stars
Now Gidsel and Kristjansson as well as the two goalkeepers are not the only players who will contribute to an enormous spectacle on Friday evening: Especially for the Danes, Flensburg backcourt player Simon Pytlick, Magdeburg’s pivot Magnus Saugstrup and left winger Emil Jakobsen are some of the best in the world in their positions. But even in Iceland, players like Magdeburg’s Omar Ingi Magnusson or the Gummersbach pivot Ellidi Vidarsson, who was really strong in this tournament, have to hide in their position from very few players in the world. Everything is actually set up for a high-scoring semi-final game at prime time in Herning.
