Denmark secured a second win at the Women's EHF EURO 2024, beating Switzerland 35:30. With four points, they become the first group D team to have booked the main round.
Switzerland were trying their best to make 5,423 fans happy, who were carrying them through thick and thin, never losing hope but they had to accept defeat by a stronger team. The co-hosts will now seek their main round confirmation against Croatia in the last game of the preliminary round.
GROUP D
Denmark vs Switzerland 35:30 (19:15)
- Denmark lived up to their billing, and with a fast pace created a clear lead already after 12 minutes, mainly through their wing players Emma Friis and Andrea Aagot Hansen
- Switzerland had a few good periods when they managed to close the gap, but the experience of the Danes was too big an obstacle
- in a highly efficient first half, Denmark converted 70 per cent of their attacks, while Switzerland was at 54 per cent
- 12 out of 14 field players scored at least once for Denmark and all 16 of them had at least 12 minutes on the court; meanwhile 11 Swiss players netted and 15 of them got their playing times
- line player Tabea Schmid was awarded Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, for the second time at the competition, after being Swiss top scorer with eight goals; Friis netted nine for Denmark
- Switzerland played in special red and white jerseys with golden details, celebrating their federation's 50h anniversary
A clash of Scandinavian styles
Denmark one again proved why they are the group D favourites and among the favourites to take the EHF EURO 2024 trophy. The team of highly efficient players made sure they did not repeat the rocky start they had against Croatia, and powered ahead with their fast breaks and well-structured tactics.
So far, Denmark have opened the Women's EHF EURO with two straight wins 10 times, and only failed to do so on five occasions – 2000, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2022.
However, Switzerland were not letting it go during the first half, when they narrowed the gap to two goals with a similar tactic of fast play and defensive options. They repeated this in the second half, from being down by five to three goals, and in the end had their narrowest defeat ever against Denmark – no wonder, as they were previously trained by Dane Martin Albertsen and now by the Norwegian expert Knut Ove Joa. The Scandinavian influence is obvious.
There's a lot of positive things to win against Switzerland here in Switzerland. I think they performed well, Switzerland. They played with big hearts over the 50:50 situations in the game — I think they won 60 per cent of them. That shows the heart they played with today. I'm very happy about the win and hopefully we are on to the middle round with two points now.
This was one of the best games we've ever played and in front of more than 5,000 spectators who came to watch our young team. It's simply amazing to play such a great game in front of so many young girls that maybe want to start playing handball or maybe already play handball. I think everyone is satisfied after this game.
