After recording their best-ever performance at a EHF EURO in 2020, can Portugal live up to the hype and do even better this time around? Before taking on co-hosts Hungary in round 2, the team led by Paulo Perreira will face Iceland in their competition’s opener.
GROUP B
Portugal vs Iceland
Friday 15 January, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV.com
- Portugal and Iceland played twice against each other in the EHF EURO, each side winning one game. The last time around, in 2020, Iceland took the points in the main round (28:25).
- since 1977, Portugal and Iceland have faced each other 10 times, with Iceland taking six wins and Portugal four
- this will be the first time since 2000 that Iceland will play a EHF EURO game without former captain Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, who retired in 2020
- Iceland right-back Ómar Ingi Magnusson, who plays for SC Magdeburg, was recently elected “Athlete of The Year 2021” in Iceland.
- Portugal brought 18 players to Budapest for the EHF EURO, including left backs Alexandre Cavalcanti and Gilberto Duarte, who are now back from injury
We have some recent experience with Iceland, and they are a team with a lot of quality. When I look at them, I can’t help but think we have the quality to make a result against them. And if we want to go as far as possible in the competition, beyond this preliminary round, we have to start our competition with a win.
We will play for the win in this first game. We have three important games in that group, and Portugal will be one of them. I think it is important for us to start well to get things going in the competition.
