Top favorite Denmark continues to march confidently through the European Handball Championship in Germany. And Sweden also showed at the start of the main round group II in Hamburg that the defending champions are once again a force to be reckoned with.
After the three-time world champions from Denmark’s clear 39:27 (18:17) win, the Swedes followed suit on Wednesday evening. They beat Slovenia 28:22 (11:7).
In the first game of the day, however, the Norwegians disappointed again. The highly rated Scandinavians lost against Portugal 32:37 (15:18). In the preliminary round, the team led by former Kiel star Sander Sagosen suffered a defeat against Slovenia and only played a draw against the Faroe Islands. The semi-finals are almost impossible for the Norwegians.
In the preliminary round, the Danes had already defeated Portugal and the Swedes were successful against the Netherlands. As a result, the two teams lead the group with four points each and have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals as first or second in the table. The Danes have been waiting for a European title since 2012.
Handball European Championship: Gidsel scores nine goals
Despite the clear result against the Dutch, the Danes were challenged for at least 40 minutes before they secured their fourth win in the fourth European Championship game. Only when the Oranje players’ strength dwindled did the quality of the Scandinavians prevail. The Danes’ top scorer was Mathias Gidsel from Füchse Berlin with nine goals.
The Swedes took a lead against the Slovenians in the first half, which they extended after the break. The outstanding player was goalkeeper Andreas Palicka, who fended off 14 of the Slovenians’ 28 shots.
Norway only dominated the Portuguese for the first 20 minutes. After that, they could no longer get the mobile southern Europeans under control. Pedro Portella (8) and Martim Costa (7) in particular were unstoppable. The Portuguese’s greatest international success so far was sixth place at the 2020 European Championship.