Sweden is back!

The 2018 EHF European Men’s Handball Championship is the 13th edition and hosted for the second time in Croatia from 12 to 28 January 2018.

Four times Champions Sweden has a young new team and we will start the main round with four points, after a mind-blowing 35:31 win against hosts and tournament favourites Croatia tonight, while Serbia go on at the expense of Iceland.

Croatia did not find themselves in serious trouble in the first two games of the EHF EURO, but their woes were on display against Sweden, as the Nordic side enjoyed a comfortable 35:31 (17:12) win against the hosts.

Therefore, after an initial loss against Iceland, the Swedish side got back on track and will start the main round with four points, with Croatia following them with two points.

“For this victory it was crucial that we have believed in ourselves and that we had a good start. We played an agressive defence. We were running like animals today in counter attacks and we punished them. I think that was the key,” Swedish right wing Niclas Ekberg said. “It’s great to win over the host of the tournament but for us, it was just a match. Of course, it is a great feeling. The opponent doesn’t matter as long as we win the games. We are moving on with four points, and that’s the most important.”

They [Sweden] were better in all aspects of the match. They had a better defence, better goalkeepers, better attackers, more fluid ball transition. They controlled the match from the first until the last minute, and we need to congratulate them for that,” Croatian right wing Cupic said.

”We were trying, changing what we could, but did not manage to make a comeback. We did not play a good defence tonight, it was too wide, neither 6-0 nor 5-1 functioned. They played very calmly in the attack, got their game right and did not fall under pressure. They dominated the match in every sphere and took the deserved two points,” Cupic added.

It was the worst-ever defensive performance for Croatia in 87 EHF EURO matches, with the 35 received goals surpassing their previous record by one goal.