French celebrate fourth EHF EURO 2024 title, Germans fail to win a medal at home

The 16th EHF EURO 2024 culminated in Cologne on Sunday. The reigning Olympic champions from France, who managed two overtimes in the decisive phase, are happy with the title. They defeated the Danes in the final. The Swedes won the bronze thanks to their victory over the home Germans.

EHF EURO 2024 kicked off in Germany on 10 January. Twelve of the 24 participants, divided into six groups of four, went through to the next stage, the main round. Their number was divided in half, with two teams from each group being able to qualify for the play-offs.

The French, Germans, Danes and Swedes did it. The third-placed teams played each other for the final fifth position. The Hungarians won the final spot, beating the Slovenes 23:22 in Friday’s match.

The French dominated the semi-final drama thanks to a controversial moment

On the same day, the more logical semi-final matches took place. The very first one brought a dramatic spectacle. It was a clash between the French winners of the Tokyo Olympic tournament and the Swedish defenders of Europe’s most valuable trophy.

After half-time, the Gallic representatives led by a significant margin of 17:11. However, the Northerners managed to catch up with their opponents in the second half, even holding a two-goal lead with a minute left in regulation time.

However, after Yanis Lenné’s reduction, the French played a penalty shot from nine metres at the very end. Elohim Prandi took the ball and overcame the six-man wall and goalkeeper Andreas Palicka to tie the game at 27:27. This is not allowed by the rules of handball.

But the referees conceded the goal and France completed the turnaround in extra time. They scored seven times in the ten added minutes, while the Swedes scored only three times. The team led by coach Guillaume Gill therefore advanced to the final with a score of 34:30.

The Germans failed to finish their home handball fest

The second semi-final match belonged to the Germans and the Danes, who as the rulers of the last three World Championships were the favourites. Nevertheless, the German handball team held a promising 14:12 lead at home after the opening half hour.

Denmark, however, equalised soon after the break and gradually moved towards turning the score around. In the 54th minute, they led 26:21, but the Germans did not have time to find an answer. The final score of 29:26 was set by Denmark’s biggest star Mikkel Hansen.

The German team wanted to make up for it and make their fans in the packed Lanxess Arena happy by winning bronze on Sunday. But the country where handball is the second most popular sport after football did not see its own team finish third.

The Swedes built up a comfortable lead in the first half with a score of 18:12. Sweden won the penultimate match of this year’s EHF EURO 2024 34:31.

The Olympic champions managed another overtime and triumphed

The final match offered a more dramatic storyline. The two golden teams scored the same number of goals in the first and second half. Each scored fourteen times before the break and thirteen times after the break. The score was 27:27 going into extra time.

Halfway through the set time, the score was still tied after two more goals. However, in the 66th and 68th minutes Dika Mem came through and France jumped two goals clear of their rivals. This was a major turning point as Denmark were no longer able to respond.

The French handball team won the EHF EURO 2024 for the fourth time with a 33:31 victory. In the past, their predecessors from the ranks of their compatriots managed to do so in 2006, 2010 and 2014. For the website of the European Handball Federation (EHF), one of the champions, Nedim Remili, evaluated the triumph of the fresh champions.

“Maybe it’s because we love the pressure. But of course we are not going to be the best team in the world in every minute of every match. However, we managed to play very well in the moments that mattered and that’s the main thing,” the right-back of the hosts of the upcoming Olympic Games was heard saying.

The Danes, beaten in the final in Cologne, will be among the favourites in the five-round tournament in Paris. “We are very disappointed, but France played an amazing game,” Danish player Mathias Gidsel also told the EHF. ” I felt that the French were physically very strong at the end of the game, that was impressive.”

Gidsel was the top scorer at the tournament with 54 goals, along with Portugal’s Marti Costa. German goalkeeper Andreas Wolff made the most saves, 92. The next European Handball Championships will be hosted by Denmark, Norway and Sweden in two years’ time.

Source: EHF