The Spaniards, who were in the finals of the last four ECs and won two titles, complicated the situation with their opening defeat against Croatia. After the win over Romania, they had progress in their hands if they beat Austria, but they narrowly missed out on the win. Janko Bozovic scored the equalizer eight seconds before the end, and the Spaniards failed in their last attempt to win.
The reigning bronze medalists from the Olympic Games and World Championships thus took up to thirteenth place at the EC, their worst in history. After finishing all the groups, the Czech team is in 15th place, two years ago it was also 13th in the group after being eliminated.
From group A, the home German handball players were escorted to the next stage by the French, who secured victory in the group thanks to a 33:30 win in a mutual duel. The Olympic champions were given confidence ahead of their clash with Germany after an unexpected draw with Switzerland on Sunday as the Swiss side fell 27-29 to North Macedonia.
The Swiss failed despite Andy Schmid’s 12 goals. The 40-year-old veteran, who was the best player of the season in the German Bundesliga five times in the jersey of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen team, apparently played his last game for the national team. “There is no handball god. Because if he was there and saw this match, he would have let us win,” Schmid said with tears in his eyes.
Today, Austria and Spain will compete for the last promotion place.
European Handball Championship in Germany: Group A (Berlin): North Macedonia – Switzerland 29:27 (13:9) France – Germany 33:30 (17:15) 1. France321098:8552. Germany320191:7243. North Macedonia310283:10024. Switzerland301267:821 Group B (Mannheim): Croatia – Romania 31:25 (16:12) Spain – Austria 33:33 (15:17) 1.Croatia321098:8252.Austria312092:8543.Spain311198:9634.Romania300373:980 Group C (Munich ):Montenegro – Serbia 30:29 (15:14)Iceland – Hungary 25:33 (13:15)1.Hungary330087:7662.Iceland311183:9033.Montenegro310284:8624.Serbia301283:851
2024-01-16 21:29:25
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