Spain take a confident win in the second set, having never allowed their opponents the advantage.
Just over two minutes on the clock and Spain maintain a clear advantage — but Spain know not to get ahead of themselves, based on their own huge comeback in the quarter-final stage. Against France, Spain came back from 16:8 down with three minutes left to take a 20:18 win in the first set.
A flurry of goals and Spain are the side to emerge with a four-point gap, first hitting 12:8 and now 14:10.
If Spain can take the victory here, it will be their first time ever reaching the EURO final, despite five semi-final participations in the last six editions, including the 2025 tournament.
Three minutes in and we have a very different set unfolding, with a much slower pace of scoring so far — thanks in part to saves like a great one just made by Spain's Patricia Encinas.
Spain with the tip off as the second set begins.
Spain complete a great turnaround and clinch the first set by three points.
Asun Batista converts the penalty to give Spain the lead with less than a minute remaining in the set.
One minute to play in the first set and it's anyone's game at this point, as Spain are awarded a penalty for inside defending by the Netherlands.
After an absolute scoring frenzy to start the match, the pace slows a touch and Spain level the game again.
Although the Netherlands won the main round clash between the teams 2:0, both sets were reasonably close, with victories of 20:16 and 27:22. It seems we may be set for a similar situation in this semi-final, as a tight contest unfolds.
Spain pull level for the first time in the match but it's temporary, as the Netherlands maintain the edge and add to their own tally. It's none other than Asun Batista who equalises at 10:10 before Meike Kruijer nets her third to reopen the gap.
A blistering start to the second semi-final as 10 points are scored in just over two minutes of play. The Netherlands start stronger with two goals in a row and are so far capitalising on that with a narrow edge.
17:50
There's hardly time to recover from the excitement of the first semi-final before the second begins — the Netherlands and Spain are up next to decide who will meet Norway in the final on Sunday. Starting whistle is at 18:00 CEST.
Just like the previous semi-finalists, these teams have already met at both this edition of the EURO and the previous one. the Netherlands won the main round match in Alanya 2:0, while Spain defeated the Dutch in the 2023 main round 2:1.
This match features the beach handball MVPs of the two EHF Excellence Awards so far, with Spain's legendary Asun Batista nabbing the 2023 award and the Dutch Meike Kruijer named for the 2024 edition.
We had a good feeling today, so we were hoping to get like two points today. It was so nice to have this team spirit and happiness and everything.
I think our match plan was right and we had the chances, but we didn't get the ball into the goal, so that's everything. This match is always very close and the teams are very close, so it happens.
