Denmark beat Greece to force early decision in group F

After two wins each, Denmark and Portugal are guaranteed a top-two finish in group F. The two teams play against each other in Munich on Monday, when the top spot in the group and two points to start the main round with are at stake.

Still, Greece will leave the tournament with their heads up high after Monday’s match against Czechia, as their first experience at the European championship will likely be followed by many more.

Greece vs Denmark 28:40 (13:20)

• debutants Greece initially seemed overwhelmed by the occasion of playing against the world champions in the sold-out Olympiahalle; Denmark quickly established a 4:0 lead before Savvas Savvas finally found the net for Greece after five minutes 
• Greece gradually clawed their way into the match and even reduced the gap to just two goals (10:8) in the 18th minute, but an upset was never on the cards
• Denmark soon regained their grip on the match and had extended their lead to an all-but-decisive seven goals at half-time
• Michael Damgaard scored 10 times with an efficiency percentage of 77, and was awarded the Player of the Match, sponsored by Grundfos; Theodoros Boskos and Christos Kederis both netted four times for Greece
• Mikkel Hansen was among several Danish players who were rested this match, meaning the Aalborg Håndbold star needs to wait until the next game to celebrate his 50th appearance in an EHF EURO match
• Denmark improved to 6-0 against Greece, having won all official matches between the two nations

Debutants Greece have enriched the Men’s EHF EURO 2024

With still one round to go in group F, Greece know that their debut at the EHF EURO will get no prolongation in the main round next week, which would of course have meant a major upset. But Greece have a lot of positives to take home – regardless what happens in their last game against Czechia on Monday.

The team led by head coach Georgios Zaravinas consists for the most part of players that compete in the domestic Greek league. Not competed at a major event since the 2005 IHF World Championship, the team expected nothing else than coming up short in international experience, and also in sheer quality, compared to established forces like Denmark and Portugal.

But Greece have stuck to their positive attitude throughout. On and off the court, the Greek squad has shown their pure pleasure of being here while trying to play handball to their best. Sometimes not the results, but the image a team presents decides how a tournament will be remembered.

Photos © Kolektiff Images