Denmark hit top form against Portugal to win group F

The result means that Denmark will start the main round with two points and Portugal with zero when group II throws off in Hamburg on Wednesday.

After wins over Czechia and Greece in two matches where Denmark only showed flashes of their quality, the world champions put in a convincing performance for large parts of the Portugal game.

Helped by a strong defence, Niklas Landin finished the match on 16 saves, a crucial factor in preventing Portugal from staying in touch with Denmark in the second half.

GROUP F

Denmark vs Portugal 37:27 (17:15)

• Denmark opened razor-sharp and build a lead of four goals (7:3) in less than eight minutes in a free-flowing opening phase that saw the world champions showed their class
• playing in his 50th career EHF EURO match, Denmark star Mikkel Hansen scored five times, all in the first half
• Portugal did well to hang in and slowly gained some grip on the match as they reduced their deficit to just two goals, which was also the difference at the break
• Martim Costa scored Portugal’s 1,000th goal in EHF EURO history when he netted to reduce his team’s deficit to 15:12 after 23 minutes; in total Costa scored nine goals
• Denmark’s Mathias Gidsel scored 11 times, including a series of four straight goals in the second half, and the top scorer of the game was named Grundfos Player of the Match
• Denmark improved to 6-0 in matches against Portugal; Monday’s win was their first since triumphing 34:28 the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on their way to winning silver

Evergreen Hans Lindberg sets Danish record

He played when Denmark won their first European title in 2008. He played when Denmark won their second EHF EURO trophy in 2012. And he is still playing in 2024. Right wing Hans Lindberg, age 42, appeared in his 53rd career EHF EURO game Monday, matching the record for the Danish national team.

Previously, only Michael Knudsen wore the Danish jersey that many times at EHF EURO final tournaments between 2000 and 2014. Bound to set a new milestone for Denmark in the main round, Lindberg presented himself with three goals against Portugal, all from the penalty line.