France is European champions for the third time Date: 1/26/2014 Never before a final of a men’s European championship had ended with a clearer result, never before a team had been more dominant, never before a team had scored more than 40 goals in a EURO final: In a never expected clear style France became European champions for the third time after 2006 and 2010 by clashing host Denmark by 41:32 (23:16). “Possibly this was the best ever match of a French team, definitely the best ever final performance,” coach Claude Onesta was impressed an amazed: “I am happy as never before, this new team showed a brilliant final.” Like one year ago at the World Championship in Spain when losing 19:35 against the host, Denmark were completely below par and were absolutely chanceless. Spain took the bronze medal after beating Croatia by 29:28 (16:13). All four semi-finalists had booked their tickets for the World Championship 2015 in Qatar already. “In contrast to the final in Spain we played 45 minutes on a high level, but unfortunately the match was already lost after the first 15 minutes. But this team has a golden future with their new coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson. In the next ten years they will be among the top four in all competitions,” said Ulrik Wilbek, who had his last match as Danish national team coach on Sunday – and hopes for his successor Gudmundsson: “I cross the finger that we will win gold in Qatar.” “We wanted to gift Ulrik with gold medal, now we missed it. Terrible,” said All Star team goalkeeper Niklas Landin. Even the support of 14.000 spectators in the sold-out arena in Herning did not back the Danes in any second, as the host showed the by far weakest performance during the tournament. France were ice-cold, boosted by the saves of goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer and the goals of Valentin Porte and championship MVP Nikola Karabatic. Playing without defence in the first 20 minutes, Denmark were down very early and could never recover from this backlog. Despite two early time-outs the Danes were behind by 4:13 in minute 17, and the difference was double-figured for the first time at 7:17. Already then it became obvious that France would not give the victory from their hands anymore. So team captain Jerome Fernandez received the EHF EURO golden plate fully deserved by EHF President Jean Brihault. At halftime the Olympic champion were ahead by 23:16, ten minutes before the end the distance again had risen to ten goals at 35:25. Due to this great win, Thierry Omeyer, Daniel Narcisse, Jerome Fernandez, Michael Guigou, Nikola Karabatic and Luc Abalo have each won their third European title – while on the other hand a whole nation was in a state of shock. Before, Spain had won their second ever European bronze medal after 2000 by beating Croatia in a thrilling bronze final by 29:28 (16:13). Key for this success was the performance of goalkeeper Jose Manuel Sierra and even more the eight goals of Joan Canellas, who became top scorer of the tournament by 50 goals in eight matches. On the other side, even the eight goals Domagoj Duvnjak, who was awarded Grundfos World Handball Player of the year 2013 after the match, were not enough to win the fourth straight bronze medal after the EURO 2012, Olympic Games 2012 and World Championship 2013. Boosted by the goals of Canellas, Spain had forged ahead to 16:12, but the Croats did not give up. Several times they had the chance to equalize in the final stages, but missed those opportunities. Finally the 29:27 scored by Canellas, decided the match. “It is great to finish a tournament like this with a bronze medal. We did not play on our highest level in all matches, but we played with passion and heart,” said Canellas. And the fans had already seen real thrillers in the semi-finals, open until the final stages of both duels. France had beaten Spain by 30:27 (12:14) thanks to their top scorers Luc Abalo (8 goals) and sensational youngster Valentin Porte (7 goals). Even ten goals of Joan Canellas did not prevent Spain from losing their second straight EHF EURO semi after the defeat against Denmark in 2012 in Serbia. In the second semi, goalkeeper Niklas Landin again was the Danish hero. His 15 saves paved the 29:27 (13:15) win over the Croats, who lost their fourth straight semi-finals in major competition after the EURO 2012 (against Serbia), the Olympic Games 2012 (against France) and the World Championship 2013 (against Denmark). In a highly thrilling match the Croats stood the pressure caused by 14.000 frenetic Danish supporters and were in lead by three goals – but then missed too many chances against Landin. Before the semis, Iceland had won the 5/6 placement match against Poland by 28:27 thanks to a last second goal of Runar Karason. The final result was the only Icelandic lead in the whole match. The next Men’s European championship will be hosted by Poland in 2016. Before, an overall of 13 European teams will be part of the 2015 World Championship in Qatar. After Spain had qualified as defending World Champions, Denmark, France and Croatia booked their tickets right by clinching their berth for the semi-finals. All-Star Team: Goalkeeper: Niklas Landin (DEN) Right wing: Luc Abalo (FRA) Right back: Krzysztof Lijewski (POL) Centre back: Domagoj Duvnjak (CRO) Left back: Mikkel Hansen (DEN) Left wing: Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (ISL) Line player: Julen Aguinagalde (ESP) Most Valuable Player: Nikola Karabatic (FRA) Best defence player: Tobias Karlsson (SWE) Top scorer: Joan Canellas (ESP) 50 goals Result summary: Semi-finals: France vs. Spain 30:27 (12:14), Denmark vs. Croatia 29:27 (13:15) Placement match 5/6: Iceland vs. Poland 28:27 (13:16) Bronze final: Croatia vs. Spain 28:29 (13:16) Final: France vs. Denmark 41:32 (23:16) Final ranking: GOLD: France SILVER: Denmark BRONZE: Spain 4. Croatia 5. Iceland 6. Poland 7. Sweden 8. Hungary 9. Russia 10. FYR Macedonia 11. Austria 12. Belarus 13. Serbia 14. Norway 15. Czech Republic 16. Montenegro
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 10:25:59 +0000
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