Portugal beat Czechia to close in on main round

Portugal made the difference in the second quarter of the first half, when they had a 6:0 run to go from 5:5 to 11:5. The difference of around five goals remained intact for the rest of the match; only in the closing minutes, Czechia managed to come closer, though the final result was never in doubt.

Left back Martim Costa was the outstanding goal scorer, netting 11 times for Portugal; Matej Klima led with eight goals for Czechia.

GROUP F

Czechia vs Portugal 27:30 (7:13)

• Neither team built a lead of more than one goal in the opening quarter, in which both Jakub Hrstka and Vojtech Patzel had their penalties for Czechia saved by Portugal’s Diogo Rêma Marques
• Portugal then had a run of six unanswered goals in the span of seven minutes to soar ahead 11:5 as the Czech defence, which held up so well against world champions Denmark two days ago, was all over the place
• Rêma saved two more penalties in the first half and Czechia recorded a scoring efficiency of just 39 per cent; they were 13:7 down going into the dressing rooms
• Czechia regrouped in the break and were more stable again in the second half, but initially failed to close the gap
• top scorer Martim Costa (11 goals) was awarded the Player of the Match, sponsored by Grundfos
• Portugal are one an eight-match winning streak in EHF EURO-related games, after they won all six qualifiers and the first two matches of the final tournament

Goalkeeper Rêma and Galia in the spotlights – for different reasons

To call him ‘penalty killer’ might even be an understatement: Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Rêma Marques saved no less than five Czech efforts from the penalty line, four of them in the first half.

The stunning series of saves started already after 16 seconds when he denied Jakub Hrstka. And the first-half series ended in the last minute before the break, when Dominik Solak failed to score. However, ‘save’ might not be the correct expression here as Solak’s throw sent the ball into the head of Rêma, which cost the Czech defender a direct red card.

But Rêma was not the only keeper to appear in the limelight of the sold-out Olympiahalle. On the other side of the court, Czech legend Martin Galia came on shortly before the break. The 44-year-old appeared in his 40th EHF EURO match, more than two decades after his debut at the EHF EURO 2002. Galia retired from the national team last April, stayed on as goalkeeper coach, and now made his comeback from retirement.

Photos © Kolektiff Images