Portugal leave it late to down debutants Greece

Playing in his first senior EHF EURO, right back Francisco Costa immediately left his mark as he scored six times for Portugal – all in the first half.

Greece bravely battled for 60 minutes in their first match at a major event since the 2005 IHF World Championship but ultimately came up short in quality and experience compared to Portugal, who started in their third straight EHF EURO.

GROUP F

Portugal vs Greece 31:24 (18:14)

• Nikolaos Liapis opened the scoring with Greece’s first-ever EHF EURO goal after 75 seconds as Portugal were struggling to find their rhythm in the opening stages
• goalkeeper Diogo Rêma Marques denied Greece on several occasions to prevent Portugal from dropping behind by more than one goal
• the match remained in the balance for the first 11 minutes (6:6) before a 4:1 run put Portugal in the driving seat
• Portugal had a slow start again after the break (18:14), scoring just once in the first 11 minutes and Greece even levelled again for 20:20
• finally getting into their flow, Portugal ran away in the last 15 minutes as the Greek defence cracked under the constant pressure
• Greece left wing Christos Kederis was named the Player of the Match, sponsored by Grundfos after scoring a perfect five from five

Portuguese goalkeepers spoil Greek EHF EURO debut

In the first half they had some first-class opportunities saved by Diogo Rêma Marques; in the second half by Gustavo Capdeville: Greece’s debut could have been so different if the Portuguese goalkeepers had not been on top of their game like they were Thursday night.

Relying on their fast breaks in many situations, Greece could have caused more trouble for the heavily favoured Portugal, who only managed to really make the difference in the last 15 minutes.

Photo © Nebojsa Tejic / kolektiff