Lukas Laube's Switzerland stun France to get their first point

After defeating North Macedonia 39:29 in the opening game of the Men’s EHF EURO 2024, France suffered a lot more against Switzerland. The Swiss team also displayed a completely different face compared to what they showed in Dusseldorf on Wednesday.

Andre Schmid and his teammates played level with their opponents in the first 30 minutes, even taking a short advantage at numerous times, but France put their foot to the pedal after coming back from the dressing rooms. Despite the EHF EURO 2014 champions taking a four-goal advantage, Switzerland never gave up and thanks to Lukas Laube, who scored 10, took a deserved point to keep their chances of the main round alive.

GROUP A

Switzerland vs France 26:26 (14:14)

• Switzerland seemed to have recovered well from their loss in the first round, as they played level with France in the first quarter, relying on Samuel Zehnder and Lukas Laube to score goals
• France never quite found the solution defensively to stop Laube, who netted six in the first half alone, and with Manuel Zehnder scoring a last-second equaliser, the teams were level at the break
• thanks to Samir Bellahcene’s crucial saves between the spots, France finally managed to break away on the scoreboard and take a four-goal advantage at the 38th minute, forcing Switzerland to take a timeout
• this break immediately put the Swiss players back on the right track, especially their defence, which was well helped by Nikola Portner and his nine saves
• with both teams tied at the start of the money-time, Melvyn Richardson missed a seven-metre throw before Samir Bellahcene stopped Andre Schmid’s shot for the win
• both teams still have a chance to proceed to the main round, regardless of the score of North Macedonia vs Germany later on

Lukas Laube did it all for Switzerland

The Swiss line player was almost invisible against Germany on Wednesday but on Sunday, he definitely took all the spotlight.

Scoring 10 goals, the Stuttgart player tore the French defence to pieces, well helped by Andre Schmid.

But not only did he receive the passes, but he also only missed one shot, making him the number one offensive danger for his team. Even his two-minute suspension in the last minute could not prevent him from getting the Player of the Match award.

Photos © Kolektiff Images