Steins: ‘We really took this chance to surprise them’

EHF EURO 2022 co-hosts Hungary entered the competition with high hopes that took a battering in round 1, as the Netherlands pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the opening matches and took a 31:28 win.

Playing only their second EHF EURO in history, the Netherlands’ record now stands at two wins in four games overall — a statistic that highlights just how new the team are to the competition, especially with comparison to their round 1 opponents, who were playing their 65th EURO match.

But history does not matter when it comes to the court. And here and now, the Netherlands have humble goals to start with — show they can play good handball consistently against strong teams.

“It was a great game to play in a full arena, with 20,000 people,” says centre back Luc Steins the day after the historic win — the Netherlands’ first against Hungary in an official clash. “For our team, it was a big opportunity to show our handball to Europe. I think this is also the goal for us, just to show what we are able to do with this team and this country.

“We kept on playing concentrated the whole game and I think we played a solid game — still not our best game we played, I think. But for a first game, we have to be happy. And especially with the points, of course, we are really happy,” Steins says.

“It was a big experience for everybody”

In 2019, the Netherlands’ back Kay Smits talked to eurohandball.com about hoping to make it to Kiel for the EHF Cup Finals, mentioning how great it would be “playing in front of 10,000 spectators or more in that big arena”.

Sparkassen Arena is one thing — the new Budapest Handball Arena, with capacity for just over 20,000, is another. With only a small number of handball arenas holding such capacity, few players have experienced matches in an atmosphere like that in Budapest on Thursday night as the EURO opened — and Steins thinks his team handled it perfectly, while Hungary may have faltered under the pressure of the moment.

“For our team, it was a big opportunity. I think almost nobody played in an arena like this from our team, so it was a big experience for everybody and maybe it was our luck also that Hungary were a little bit nervous because, of course, they were the favourite and in a big arena with 20,000 people supporting them. I think they had some more pressure than us this game and we used it really well,” says Steins.

With a great win behind them and the main round in sight, what does Steins think of the Netherlands’ position in group B now?

“It’s still a tough group with great teams. Of course, now we succeeded to win the first game, but we have still two matches to play,” says Steins. “Iceland and Portugal are also really good teams so we have to continue to play our best handball to be able to win games in this group and especially in this whole European championship.

“It’s important for us to play at our best level and this is what we are focusing on. We are trying to continue like we did yesterday and then even maybe a little bit better.”

Keeping cool in the high-pressure final minutes

It is no surprise that Steins is rational and humble in the way he looks at the first match. His intelligence is obvious on the field, where he is the mastermind behind the Netherlands’ attack and has found his own unique style to suit his 1.73m frame — mainly speed, vision and tactical genius. Speaking about his own performance in the round 1 match, where he served eight assists and scored two goals, the Paris Saint-Germain playmaker finds room for improvement. 

“About my own game, I wasn’t so happy. I think I could really play way better and I have lost too many balls; missed two, three open shots; and I desire to change for the next game. Of course we had some other guys like Kay Smits and also Dani Baijens — they were playing a really good game,” says 26-year-old Steins.

It is notable he draws focus to his teammates’ performance rather than taking any sort of credit, despite an individual game that any viewer would describe as top-class — the mark of an athlete who undoubtedly has a bright future still ahead.

Steins feels the Hungary match shows how far his team have come. In particular, it was critical to be able to hold on towards the end of the game, when Hungary drew level with three minutes on the clock.
“We are getting more experienced over the last couple of years and we kept our head in the game. We know what it means to play big games, because in the last years we only played against big teams,” says Steins, explaining how the team knew they had the ability to win such matches, but to actually deliver it on this stage in this kind of moment was another matter.

“This is the next step we have to continue with. I think we made really great steps in the last years with getting more experience, and with having more players in strong competitions and in strong clubs where you have to play every weekend, or every week, you are playing top matches,” he adds.
“These top matches are almost all decided in the last 10, 15 minutes, so I think this is something we really progressed in. And the last five minutes they came back in the game because of some mistakes we did, but we kept the head cool and we just focused on what we said before: just take it relaxed and if we have to chance to run, we run.

“So one moment they became equal in the game and seven seconds after that moment we already scored a goal against them so we took the lead again. These kinds of moments were really important in the game.”

Valuable experience from top club competitions

Steins credits the ability to deliver in such a moment not only to the national team development but the individual growth due to club competitions. The squad are spread mainly between clubs in the Netherlands, but also in Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. Most notable is Steins in the Champions League with PSG, while Smits won the 2021 IHF Super Globe with SC Magdeburg just a few months ago.

“It’s really important that the young guys in the team are making steps to stronger clubs, and stronger leagues, to play every week at the top level,” says Steins. “The more players you have playing at that level, of course it’s helping the level of national team, to give some more experience to the team and then you can stay more calm if the moment is there in these kind of matches.

“For me, it’s the same. I made some steps from a second league team in France, Massey, to Tremblay in the first league and then to Toulouse, where we were playing last year in the European League. And after I had the chance to go to PSG and play at Champions League level every week, playing even more games at the highest level possible,” he explains.

“Of course, it also gives a lot of experience to me to play these kinds of matches and play with really the best players in the world. We are learning from that, and this is what we also try to bring to the national team every time to develop more and more.”

“We want to survive in this group”

Iceland and Portugal met in their EURO opener on Friday night, with Iceland securing a commanding win, 28:24. It will therefore be a top-of-the-table encounter when the Netherlands meet Iceland in round 2 on Sunday at 20:30 CET.

“Everything has to be top for us, otherwise we are not able to win games in this group,” says Steins. “Now we did it once against Hungary, but I think it was also because it was the first match for Hungary in their arena and their own championship at home. They were a little bit nervous maybe to play this game and we really took this chance to surprise them in the first game, but now Iceland and Portugal.

“They also watched the game [vs Hungary] I think and they will be preparing for the game even better than before, maybe. We have to continue to develop our game to show the best handball we can play and then we will see what happens in the next two games. Of course, now we won one game and we want to continue and want to survive in this group,” Steins says.