Men's EHF EURO 2026 post-match flash quotes: 19 January
HERNING/OSLO/MALMÖ – Comments from players and coaches after matches in groups A, C and E at the Men's EHF EURO 2026 on Monday.
FRANCE vs NORWAY 38:34 (20:17)
Guillaume Gille (FRA) – FRA head coach
On the victory:
“I am happy that we managed to win this game, which was everything but a simple one. My team was present, we played very well despite all the arena pushing Norway. We played quite well and always had a safety net. That gave us the win because even though they came back in the second half, we were still ahead and calm.”
On the main round:
“These two points that we take with us are very important, especially when you see who we will be playing against in the main round. We will have to play at our best level, every two days, with no room for error. We will play against teams that are all medals or even title contenders.”
On the serenity France showed tonight:
“We resisted when Norway pushed in the second half, it was important to remain cold-blooded and calm. This is what we have been working on since the beginning, just to remain focus on ourselves in every situation. It is great we are now able to play like that in tough matches.”
Elohim Prandi (FRA) – left back
On the victory:
“Very happy of course, because that was a very tough game. We started it well, even though we missed a couple of open shots in front of the goalkeeper. But our defence was quite strong, we played well at the start of the second half to take the advantage and keep it until the end.”
On France attack scoring so much:
“We are good, but I think we can do better. We have to learn how to handle our bad moments, like, we don’t have to play that quick all the time for example. Sometimes, we put ourselves in danger. But, of course, I see some improvement since we started this campaign, and I am very happy about the way we play.”
Simen Lyse (NOR) – left back
On the loss:
“We are disappointed because maybe the referees had a couple of bad calls in the second half, but France did not need that anyway. They played fast, they played good and our defence was just not good enough. 38 goals taken is too much if you want to win.”
On the forthcoming main round:
“It will be tough but we will think about it when we get to Denmark. We will try to keep the same approach as we had here, one game at the time. We don’t even know who we will be playing again yet, so really, it’s hard to look ahead.”
GEORGIA vs SWEDEN 29:38 (15:20)
Michael Apelgren (SWE) – head coach
On qualifying for the main round:
“It’s a nice feeling. When you enter a championship at home it's really important to make it to the next round, for the whole tournament, for everyone who has bought tickets. It’s nice that we are there now.”
On Georgia’s first half performance:
“Overall, I’m really impressed by them! I think they have done great things during this tournament. Unfortunately, they have suffered some injuries and got a little bit tired when the big names like Sweden are coming with so many experienced players. The level of how they are playing, like in the first half, is very, very good and I’m impressed by it. I'ts nice handball they play. They do a lot of beautiful things. There are some really nice Instagram clips we will see in the future.”
On Sweden’s performance:
“I think it was a solid performance. It was nice that we could spread the minutes, so that everybody played a lot of minutes. The young guys are our future, and when we are going through this change, a little bit where we need to fit in younger players, it’s nice to see them performing when they are getting their chances.”
Andreas Palicka (SWE) – goalkeeper
On making the main round:
“Now with two victories it’s a nice feeling. We have processed the World Championship 2025 a lot this year, and have worked together to be able to perform like this. We cannot forget that before this championship we had one of the most successful periods in Swedish handball.
“We knew that we had it in us right now. We have built up some stability and comfort in the team, so I think everyone looks in harmony, and that’s nice.”
On the first half:
“Big congrats to Georgia and the development of the handball in Georgia, because they have takena lot of steps in their development. They have some amazing players, in (Georgi) Tskhovrebadze, (Nikoloz) Kalandadze – I played against Kalandadze at Chambery in France, amazing player, shoots harder than anyone.
“So they have some future there, it’s a small nation from when you speak to handball, but the qualities they have is good and they made it difficult for us. It’s difficult to defend against them and we were not so comfortable in the game over 60 minutes. But in the end our squad was wider, and we did our thing.”
On his own performance:
“I have had had a pretty tough fall in the club; first injury that held me away, and it was insecure if I should make it to come to the EUROs. I made it, then I got this ball in the eye, and once again knew it was unsecure, but here I am, older than any time before, and could do some saves, so I’m happy.”
On the next match, against Croatia:
“It’s a top match, two top nations with great squads. It will be a physical game about who will take the points with them in the main round. Croatia looked great today, but we have a good harmony in the team and we will do anything we can to do a great match against Croatia.”
Tite Kalandadze (GEO) – head coach
On the defeat against Sweden:
“I think in today’s match we missed this fighting spirit that we had before. I think it is because we were a bit more tired. We really wanted to show our fighting spirit but today it was unfortunate that we didn’t show it 100 per cent. Sweden had two great goalkeepers. We couldn’t find the keys to face them correctly and we missed really open chances against them. We didn’t give our best today.”
On the development since the EHF EURO 2024:
“We feel like we are closing the gap to the bigger teams, but today we didn’t show 100 per cent and we will try our best. This is not what we wanted to do in this match. We are developing day by day and we did a great job in these two years. We keep going. Also, I want to wish Erekle (Arsenashvili) a speedy recovery.”
Giorgi Dikhaminija (GEO) – right wing
On the match:
„I can say like, I am happy with my team and we had many mistakes end of first half and second half, and we got two serious injuries, and I hope they will be okay, and it was not the main reason why we lose this game, but I have to say thanks to my team, to my teammates to fight 'till the end. Now we have one more game left, and we will do our 100 per cent there.”
On Georgia’s progress as a team:
“I think like a team we are growing, like players, like a team growing and handball in Georgia getting more and more popular and we are happy about that.”
GERMANY vs SPAIN 34:32 (17:15)
Lukas Zerbe (GER) – right wing
On the pressure of the match:
"I'm really happy, really proud about the team and yes, it was many pressure before the game, but our defence and our attack were great for 60 minutes. Two amazing goalkeepers and I'm really happy."
On going to the main round with two points:
"We are really happy that we are going to the main round with two points and we are looking forward to the next games."
On whether he expects more Germans to come to Herning after this win:
"I hope that many, many German people will come to Herning and let's start a party."
Justus Fischer (GER) – line player:
On whether they thought they would win:
“Before the match, we were absolutely convinced — 100 per cent — that we would win.”
On the pressure to win:
“Before the match, the pressure was still immense. We still had to beat Spain, which is no easy task, but now we are hugely relieved. We have qualified for the main round with the best possible result we could achieve.”
On the rollercoaster ride over the last 48 hours:
“It was brutal. We were at rock bottom, and now we’re at the very top, which is why we’re absolutely over the moon. It was an incredibly tense, a nerve-racking game.”
On the keys to the victory:
“As a team, we have taken a massive step forward. As a young team, we performed extremely well under pressure — it was a do-or-die match. Over the past few days, we have really grown together, and that’s something we can be proud of.”
On Renārs Uščins, Juri Knorr and Julian Köster combining for 19 goals:
“Their goals were the perfect answer to the question of what can be expected from the German back court at this EURO.”
On the main round:
“Now the toughest main round there may ever have been awaits us. It’s going to be really brutal. But we’ll use the two free days for intensive preparation. Denmark in the opening game will be a real challenge straight away. We want to go into that match full of confidence.”
Imanol Garciandia (ESP) - right back
On where it went wrong against Germany:
"We made so many silly mistakes that are the difference in the score for us. I think we were losing by three in the first half and we had three fast breaks that we missed and three or four balls that we needed to recover easy on a normal day, we made so many mistakes that I have the feeling that cost us the game."
On going to the main round without points:
"Taking points to the main round is super-important, this game was basically the first game of the main round for us and we lost it and don't have points. Now the error margin is close to zero, but we need to believe as this team always believed and achieved great things like this, so we will continue."
On the areas to improve in the main round:
"We need to take advantage when we recover the ball, we missed so many easy fast breaks and we lost the ball in a silly way so many times, maybe six, seven times and we lost by two goals and that's a really big difference and it's a simple thing that we can improve from one day to another."
NETHERLANDS vs CROATIA 29:35 (13:15)
Staffan Olsson (SWE) – Netherlands head coach
On what happened in the last 10 minutes:
“That’s a good question. I think we sorted out some particular plays in both halves compared to the Sweden match. We were going down a little bit. I’m quite satisfied with the defence in the first half, but then we have some chance what we didn’t take to go away with some goals. In the second half we were getting too tired in defence, so we were going down there. These small phases, teams like this are too good, so they are using it, and we need to start chasing. We didn’t manage that.”
On Dani Baijens’ injury and the effects:
“Our plan was to run a lot with Dani Baijens and Luc Steins. They are really good at that, and I think we succeeded with that in the first half. We were missing him a bit in the defence. That was a tough one for us."
On bouncing back for the last match against Georgia:
“We have 48 hours to recover and come back. We want to finish the tournament in a good way. We are going for two points in that match.”
Lars Kooj (NED) – line player
On the end of the match:
“Until the 50th minute it was a close game. We wanted the whole game to play with speed, to outrun them at the end, to let them not change in defence.
“That was our tactic, and I think we did at the beginning a pretty good job. But in the whole game we made too much technical faults in attack, in the six against six, because of our speed. I think towards the end we wanted to try even more speed, and that became more technical faults, and that’s why at the end it made such a big difference.”
On the injury to Dani Baijens:
“Dani’s for us a really important players, and also to run we need every player if we want to hold this speed the whole game. That was of course a setback for us. But I think even without Dani we can manage this, and with so much technical mistakes it was not enough against a team like Croatia.”
On the upcoming game against Georgia:
“We have to switch the switch. Today we can maybe have a setback, but tomorrow we have to set our heads straight and make the win in two days.”
Dagur Sigurdsson (ISL) – Croatia head coach
On the tight first half:
“Yes, I think it was only in the end that we were superior. It was a tough game. Netherlands played unbelievably quick, it was difficult to make changes in defence and offence. It was a pressure game for us, a very good performance from us and we can continue.”
On the offence:
“There were some mistakes in part of the game, but I think the game was really good from both teams. I’m happy with our performance. It was maybe not so solid, because they could do a lot of fast breaks on us, but altogether I was happy with the performance.”
On the rotation in Croatia’s squad:
“It was a completely tactical move. We knew that there would be space on the pivot position and Zlatko Raužan is a very promising young player, with not so much experience, but he played very, very well and has been doing good. Also with Mateo Maraš and Luka Lovre Klarica we have two young left-handers and we decided to put Ivano Pavlović if we needed a new centre back.”
Zvonimir Srna (CRO) – left back
On the match:
“It was a tough game, because pressure was on us, because we needed to win to pass to the second round. Netherlands, it’s a tough opponent, they run a lot and it’s a direct opponent; we stopped them at the beginning of this game.”
On the end of the match:
“We were patient and smart in attack, we didn’t make technical faults. If you make technical faults they will run and score easy goals. We run good to set our defence, and that was the main reason why we win.”
On the last preliminary round game, against Sweden:
“It is a championship in Sweden so I think it’s a little more pressure on them. We just go to fight and enjoy, and fight for two points to get to the second round.”
AUSTRIA vs SERBIA 26:25 (12:13)
Iker Romero (ESP) – Austria head coach
On his team:
“So we knew that it will be really, really difficult to win. It’s incredible how they [the team] work. It’s the spirit that we need for the future, it’s the spirit that we need now, and I am really proud of every player.”
Nemanja Beloš (AUT) - left back
On the win:
"It was a hard game for us, we wanted to win from the first minute and we knew that we had a chance (to go to the main round) if we win by four goals, and the game was not so attractive because both teams played for a result, and we won, but it was not enough."
On being eliminated from the EHF EURO 2026:
"We are a little bit disappointed, but proud of our first win at the tournament and for our new coach and it's difficult but we have to keep going and play."
On the future:
"We hope to play at the next tournaments and with this win we have a good chance to get not so difficult opponent for the World Cup qualifiers."
Raúl González (ESP) – Serbia head coach
On whether the exhaustion after the match against Germany affected them today:
“No, they are a different match. Now we feel the pressure and we didn’t play so good, but we were in the match until the end and fighting for the victory. Now we have chance, it depends on the match, what happens in Spain against Germany, but we will see.”
On his impressions on the second half:
“In the second half we did several mistakes, especially in five minutes we lost three-four goals and their goalkeeper was good. Then they took three-four goals advantage and it was very difficult to continue in the match, but we fought until the end and now we have chance. It’s difficult because Germany has good players, good coach, playing here with their supporters, it’s difficult.”
Vanja Ilić (SRB) – left wing
On what the defeat means:
"We hope that Spain win, but then we go with zero points in the main round. I don't know what to say, it's hard to speak now after a game like this, but we knew that it will be hard, they never gave up. We were ready, but I don't know if it was for the nervousness, but we hope Spain win."
On coming back from three goals down:
"We played three very hard matches, maybe we gave a lot and everything against Germany and one day for rest, maybe it was short for us.”
Stefan Dodić (SRB) – centre back
On his impressions after the defeat:
“A really good match, a really tough match, I think we played much better in the first half. In second half I think that we didn’t find the solution against their seven-against-six, they prepared good, but that’s sport. So I think we need more discipline in attack, but we still have our chance. So we will wait to see the match against Germany and Spain.”
On whether they were physically and mentally exhausted after the game against Germany:
“Yes of course, we lose a lot of power, but we have one day rest, like them. It’s same for us and same for them. The biggest problem is that we don’t have discipline in attack, we lose easy ball and we didn’t defend their seven-against-six.”
CZECHIA vs UKRAINE 38:29 (17:14)
Daniel Kubeš (CZE) — head coach
“We managed to play as we wanted. Play fast and pushing the second wave whole game. Through 60 minutes. That was one important thing and the second was a very nice performance from Jonáš (Josef). He played amazingly well. I’m really happy for him.”
On Josef’s performance and what that shows for the future:
“We will see. We will see. When he’s going to play like the last two games, the future looks really bright for him.”
On what they take from the EHF EURO 2026:
“It was a big experience for our young squad. I think each player can take something with them home. For us, that we have to work even harder to manage to play equal games against teams like France and Norway and I hope we can do it better next time.”
Tomáš Mrkva (CZE) — goalkeeper
On the key to the first win at the EHF EURO 2026:
“Our energy in the whole 60 minutes. I think we saw a great game with two teams that were playing about being qualified in the main round to play-offs to the World Championship. We wanted from the beginning play hard. It was a little bit sand and mortar on the beginning, but we still be able to get three goals lead in the half-time. And after the half-time I think we made our game and I think it was nine goals and was a success.”
On what the team can take from the EURO for the future:
“I have to say that I’m proud of the team because we had some difficulties with key players. Injury from Tomáš Piroch. Daniel Bláha was sick, then we got a red card from him today as well. Petr Široký was gone.
“But we played like a team, one for each other, so that makes me really proud. I think the keys from this tournament is that the young players saw that the level of the game is somewhere else like in Czech league and we have to be prepared for a tournament like this.”
Jonáš Josef (CZE) – centre back
On the victory:
“It’s absolutely beautiful. We win the game, we don’t finish with three defeats but we also move a little bit further for the next World Championship. We told ourselves that we wanted to play tonight as we did against Norway and we managed to do it.
"I think that in the second half, we gave a great performance, especially defensively. And it’s easier to win games when you don’t take goals. I am really, really about our performance.”
On recovering from their bad start to the game:
“The first minutes were not good, we also had a red card, so we had to move forward a remain focus. We did a really great job, our goalkeepers made a couple of important saves to keep us in the game. And at half-time, we told ourselves that we had to kill the game right away, that we did not to be with only one or two goals difference in the last minutes. That was the plan and we made it work perfectly.”
On tying the second-best performance for most goals scored in a EHF EURO game:
“I don’t believe you. Honestly, I don’t believe you. Is it true? OK, so this is crazy. I felt good on the court, my teammates helped me, I also thought that I should take responsibilities. And when things work, there is no reason to stop. I am proud of what I did, but even more proud because it comes with a team victory.”
Vadym Brazhnyk (UKR) — head coach
On the key to the result:
“We were preparing for today’s game. We changed our defence, but unfortunately two of our key defence players were injured and it didn’t allow us to keep the tempo through the whole game.”
On what he takes from the EURO campaign overall:
“First of all, it is a great experience for us. We have a young team and now we have to go on.”
Ihor Turchenko (UKR) — left back
On the match:
“It’s so bad we lose again. Nothing change. We lose nine goals. I think we have to show more character. We don’t show character now. We lose again, so of course we are not happy and me too.”
On what they take from the EURO overall:
“We have to learn in team like this. Like they play, like they prepare to the game, like they see video. They show how we need to play. We have to learn. We have to take everything — how they happy, how they score, how they play defence, attack, everything.”
Photo © kolektiff images
