Olympic champion France was the third team to reach the semi-finals of the European Handball Championships and hosts Germany provided the hoped-for help.
The record world champion defeated Austria, a previously great underdog, in the main round in Cologne with 33:28 (15:16) and celebrated the sixth victory in the sixth tournament game.
The Austrians held their own for a long time in front of 19,750 spectators in the sold-out Lanxess Arena and even took the lead into the half-time break.
In crunch time, the Alpine handball players, who had wrested a draw from Germany on Saturday and went into the game with the French undefeated, increasingly collapsed. With 32:28 (59th) by Nikola Karabatic the game was decided. Nevertheless, there is still a remaining chance for the European Championship surprise to make a historic leap into the medal games. Circular Ludovic Fabregas and Barca star Dika Mem (both 7 goals) became the best throwers in France.
Two wins from the remaining main round games against Hungary on Monday (8:30 p.m./ZDF and Dyn) and against the already failed Croatia on Wednesday (8:30 p.m./ARD and Dyn) would be enough for Germany to reach the semi-finals. On Sunday, defending champions Sweden and world champions Denmark qualified early for the semi-finals.
Croatia lost its already small chance of progressing by losing 30:35 (18:16) against Iceland. Even returnee Domagoj Duvnjak, who scored four goals, could not prevent the two-time Olympic champion from suffering a third defeat. The THW Kiel backcourt player had missed the last two games due to illness. The best thrower of the game was former Bundesliga top scorer Bjarki Mar Elisson (8 goals), while Marin Jelinic (6) scored the most goals for Croatia.
“Nothing worked. This shouldn’t happen,” said Duvnjak. The Croatians, who made people sit up and take notice at the start of the tournament with a resounding win against Spain, are now left empty-handed. “We may have flown a bit,” said Duvnjak, “now we are very disappointed. Especially about the second half. We will give everything against Germany.” Motivating yourself for Wednesday’s game will be “very” difficult: “I had hoped that we would be in the semi-finals, but we are far, far away.”
Croatia had largely dominated the game in the first period and had meanwhile gained a four-goal lead at 9:5 (9th). The Icelanders, who maintained their chance of taking part in an Olympic qualifying tournament with their victory, fought back and turned the game around with a 6-0 run in the decisive phase. The Croatians never recovered from 31:25 (55th).