13:32 | FULL-TIME
France record their third win in the intermediate round, but North Macedonia will follow them to the cross matches 9-12.
Faroe Islands and Czechia also both go to cross matches 17-20, but the Faroese are the ones finishing this group with all three wins. Mittún ended the game with 10 goals and Lacok with 13 saves.
13:29 | FULL-TIME
Austria simply couldn't keep up with the Portuguese, who become first Men's 20 EHF EURO 2024 semi-finalists! In the end the scoreline is perhaps too harsh to the Austrians, an eight-goal difference.
It was a brilliant performance from Portugal, who never came under real pressure after their terrific start. Austria gave it all, but it wasn't enough. They will enter the cross matches 5-8, while Portugal clinches top spot in the group.
13:21
Time is running out for Austria. Only seven minutes remaining in the match and Portugal are slowing the pace down. Rightfully so, given they lead 24:19. Time is on their side.
13:18
France and Faroe Islands both hold on to a four-goal cushion at the moment. France lead North Macedonia 20:16, and Faroe Islands are 25:21 in front versus Czechia.
13:15
Austria ruined a few chances to reduce the gap to only two goals and now find themselves facing a huge task in the final 13 minutes because Portugal are up by six goals for the first time. Gabriel Conceicao converts the penalty shot (22:16).
13:11
Another goalkeeper is worth mentioning at the moment. Aleksandar Lacok is preventing Czechia to come close to Faroe Islands. He's on 12 saves and his team's lead is safely intact (24:18).
13:06
This shouldn't go by unnoticed. Austria's goalkeeper Leon Bergmann has now scored from his own half in all three main round matches! Excellent stuff.
Miguel Oliveira responds soon after with a goal of his own. Portugal still lead relatively comfortably (19:15).
13:05
In other matches, France are in control against North Macedonia (17:13), and Faroe Islands are also closing in on another victory. They lead Czechia 22:16.
13:04
A straight red card now for Portugal's Filipe Monteiro for tripping Jonas Kofler as the Austrian was sprinting all alone in fast break. A penalty shot was also awarded, Möstl scored to make it 17:14 in Portugal's favour.
13:00
Austria now go over six minutes without a goal, which is an even longer dry spell than the one at the beginning of the match. Portugal take full advantage to lead by five goals once again, 17:12. Timeout Austria. Can they stage another comeback like in the first half?
12:52
Portugal start the second period in Zlatorog.
12:39 | HALF-TIME
Clemens Möstl scores from the penalty shot to bring Austria to a three-goal deficit at the break. Portugal were leading 5:0, 10:5 and 15:11, but this is still a quite open match if you ask me.
Möstl is the top scorer so far with five goals.
Neither team was able to develop a lead bigger than two goals, which France have at the break after Simonnet and Zuzo scored back-to-back.
Faroe Islands lead Czechia by five goals, having won the last 12 minutes 9:4. Mittún with seven goals and Lacok with eight saves are proving crucial so far.
12:27
Austria are fighting with all they have at the moment. First, they narrow the gap to only two goals (10:8), then Portugal responds with two successive goals, and now Paulnsteiner finds the net from distance. Portugal lead 12:9, six minutes remaining in the first half.
12:25
Tight match in Golovec as North Macedonia i France are tied (7:7), while Faroe Islands lead Czechia 11:9 with five goals already from Mittún.
12:21
Diogo Rêma Marques strings together a couple of top-notch saves and in a matter of two minutes Portugal go from 6:5 to 10:5 up. He's on 54 per cent succes rate so far (6/11).
12:15
Austria are slowly finding their way into this match. Leon Bergmann saved a few shots and somehow struck fear into Portugal's players, as they managed to miss a penalty shot. Also, Nuno Oliveira has just hit the post from the wing. Portugal still lead (5:3), but they haven't scored in a while now.
12:09
With two more goals, Óli Mittún has now reached 50 goals altogether in this tournament. He's still at the top of the scoring charts. Czechia, however, lead Faroe Islands 5:4.
North Macedonia are up 3:2 against France.
12:06
Ideal start from Portugal, they lead 5:0 after six minutes. Austria are making error after error, just like in the opening minutes of their game against Spain, when they also went 5:0 down and never really recovered from it. It's worth noting that five different players scored goals for Portugal.
12:00
First of many semi-final battles is under way in Zlatorog! Austria with the first possession.
11:47
The Austrians were outplayed on day 1 against Spain (37:26), and then beat Iceland 34:26 with a great performance from their back court players, but also goalkeeper Bergmann.
Portugal on the other hand could have already been preparing for the semi-finals had they won against Iceland, when they let a huge six-goal lead slip in the second half. Not to mention a missed penalty shot in the final second. It ended 33:33.
On Tuesday, however, they took down current title holders Spain 38:37 and therefore occupy top spot in the group.
11:38
In the elimination round Faroe Islands, Czechia and Switzerland have all qualified for cross matches 17-20. Israel, Ukraine and Montenegro are searching for their first point(s) in Slovenia.
11:35
In group I of the intermediate round France and North Macedonia have already secured their spots in the cross matches 9-12, having won both of their previous matches, while in group J everything is still open. Hungary lead with four points, Croatia and Slovenia have two each, and Serbia is without a point, but still has some chance to qualify for cross matches 9-12.
11:10
Starting at 12:00 CET, in the main round we have Austria and Portugal, and then at 14:20 Spain vs Iceland.
After two days, Portugal lead the group with three points. Spain and Austria follow with two each, while Iceland with one point still have a chance to qualify.
There's a lot of calculations and possibilities, but I suggest we keep them aside for now. Let's just say that for the first game Portugal need a point to secure their semi-finals berth. Austria is certain only with a win. If they draw, they have to wait the outcome of the next game between Spain and Iceland.
11:00
Tuesday was filled with drama and high-paced games. Interestingly, three teams suffered their first losses of the tournament, which completely opened up both groups.
Portugal and Spain produced the best match of the fortnight, Germany excelled defensively, Sweden outmuscled Denmark, while Austria also impressed.
Here's a reminder what happened two days ago in our day review:
It feels amazing! It doesn't matter if you play one minute or 60 minutes, if you score one goal or 10. In the end the team product is the one that matters. I'm so happy my final shot went in. I was just thinking how I would love to give everything just for this ball to go in. We're ready for Portugal. After we had two losses in a row, we didn't really think this journey would go on, but we never stopped fighting.
We were sad after the loss to Sweden, but we still had everything in our own hands. We know how good we are and we showed that today. Both potential opponents in the semi-finals are very good, but it would be nice to play against Spain. We want revenge for last year's loss in the final of IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.
Everybody thought we wouldn't be able to do anything after our loss to Portugal, but today we've shown we are a big team. No matter the opponent in the semi-finals, I'm here to help the team and we want to win. My family is here with us and that means so much to me. My dad is here, my mom and sister are not, but maybe they will join us if we reach the final.
It's an enormous pleasure to represent Portugal here. We are so happy to be in the semi-finals. If I have to choose I'd like to play Norway or Germany. I believe our main strengths are defence and fight. We are good as a team.
