Handball players stunt at European Championship against host country Hungary | Sport

The Dutch handball players have started the European championship energetically. The team of national coach Erlingur Richardsson surprised with a victory over Hungary in the official opening game. The Orange squad won 31-28 against the much higher ranked home team. Playmaker Luc Steins and Kay Smits were the stars. Smits scored no less than eleven times.

The win is a big step to the second round. The Netherlands still plays against Iceland and Portugal in the group stage. The top two in the group advance to the main round. The Dutch team is only participating in the European Championship for the second time

There were more than 20,000 Hungarians in the stands, but the Orange did not let themselves be fooled. On the contrary; Richardsson’s team boldly took the initiative from the first whistle and led 6-3 after 10 minutes. The home team visibly struggled with the smooth and frivolous play of the Dutch, who led 10-5 after 20 minutes and went into halftime with a 13-10 lead.

The Hungarians came out of the dressing room annoyed and tried to quickly make up the difference in the second half, but the Netherlands continued to play attentively and managed to hold on to the small lead for a very long time. This was partly due to the strong goalkeeper Bart Ravensbergen and the unstoppable Smits, who kept scoring goals. Corner player Rutger ten Velde ran into a red card halfway through the second half, but that setback did not bring the Orange out of balance.

The final phase was nevertheless exciting. The home team tied the score for the first time just before time and hoped to still charm the fanatical fans with the victory, but the Dutch team remained undisturbed. It parried the attacks of Hungary and in the last minutes, thanks to scores from Jeffrey Boomhouwer, Samir Benghanem and Dani Baijens, it even went back to three goals difference.

Orange’s preparation for the final round did not go entirely smoothly. Ephrahim Jerry and Florent Bourget dropped out due to corona infections and a last practice match against Sweden was cancelled. Nevertheless, Richardsson’s men traveled confidently to Budapest. Although the Dutch team is not yet a high-flyer in Europe, the team is developing strongly and the great victory over Hungary – it was the first victory over this country after nineteen defeats and one draw – was proof of the progress.