France’s handball players have reached the semi-finals of the European Championships in Germany. They won their penultimate main round game against Austria on Monday (January 22, 2024) with 33:28 (15:16) and provided support to the German national team. She promptly retaliated.
Olympic champion France was the third team after world champion Denmark and defending champion Sweden to qualify early for the semi-finals of the European Handball Championships and provided the hoped-for support for the German team. Because Germany promptly took revenge and subsequently defeated Hungary, the record world champions secured first place in Group I. In the semi-finals, France will play against Sweden for a place in the final.
Austria has 4:4 points and can no longer reach the semi-finals on its own. As in the 22:22 draw against Germany, the tournament outsider delivered a strong performance and stood up to the favorites for a long time. Only when their strength dwindled a little in the final phase were the French able to pull away.
The best thrower for the French was Dika Mem with seven goals. For Austria, the two Bundesliga professionals Mykola Bilyk (THW Kiel) and Lukas Hutecek (TBV Lemgo Lippe) were the most accurate with six goals each.
France in the semi-finals – a good thing for Germany
After the French victory, the German national team now has it in its own hands to reach the semi-finals. After the 35-28 win against Hungary, another success in the final main round game against the Croatians on Wednesday (January 24th, 2024) would be enough for the DHB selection. Germany would meet Denmark in the semi-finals.
Defeat against Iceland – Croatia squanders semi-final chance
Croatia had previously lost 30:35 (18:16) against the Icelanders, who had already been eliminated. This means that Croatia no longer has a chance of reaching the semi-finals before the last main round game against Germany.
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.
“I haven’t seen such a bad half from the Croatian national team in a long time as our second half today. Everything was missing,” 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 little bit,” said Duvnjak, “Now we are very disappointed. Especially about the second half. We will give everything against Germany.”
When Iceland turned up the heat – a 6-0 run made the difference
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).