Thursday Qualifiers action: 2026 runners-up Germany headline day two
Among those starting their campaigns to reach the Men’s EHF EURO 2028 on day two of the qualifiers, to be played on Thursday, will be 2026 silver medallists Germany and the two previous winners, France and Sweden.
Finland, Estonia and Belgium, who all hope to make their debuts at the final tournament, also begin their campaigns to do so on the concluding day of round 1 on Thursday.
This will be a difficult game even with a full-strength squad. The Netherlands have featured in major championships on several occasions and are a strong international team. Their players compete in leagues at a different level from ours, so we need to find an edge in other areas. We have a young team, with several players who have very little experience in matches like these. Whatever we may lack in individual skill, we must make up for through cohesion and teamwork.
Georgia played three good matches at the European Championship in January. They came close to beating Croatia in their opening game, before losing to Sweden and the Netherlands. We have also looked at the two World Championship qualifying matches they played against Israel this spring. Georgia have made progress in recent years. It was difficult to select this squad because there have been many strong performances at the start of the season. We have chosen to rely on experience, and we want to continue building around the players who are performing well and getting playing time with their clubs. Now I’m really looking forward to getting the squad together.
I am overjoyed to be back on the court. I feel great and I am truly happy to be here with the guys. As for Estonia — honestly, I don’t know much about them; they are a bit of an unknown, but that doesn’t change anything. We need to perform at our absolute best and win that match.
Estonia face a physically demanding away match and will need to use their speed and movement to counter their opponents’ strengths. Serbia are a team of real quality, and facing a team like that on their home court is always difficult. There could be a big gap physically, but we must try to use our speed to gain an advantage. Perhaps another small opportunity for us is that Serbia might underestimate us a little.
Montenegro have players, in and out of the goal, who can decide a game, they play at the highest level. We should focus on them and also on our way of handball. We build a new team with a new head coach on the bench and with many newcomers but also with more experienced players.
We have our new-old head coach Zoran Roganovic, and I believe he is returning as a more experienced coach. At the same time, I think we have also made progress over the past four years during which he was not our head coach. I hope we will quickly learn and adapt to his ideas. Most of the players have already worked with him, and I believe the younger players will also embrace his approach. Our goal is to play fast, modern handball, and everyone has welcomed that idea. We also need to adapt to a faster style of play, and we will do our best to play at a higher tempo and make our game more attractive.
I am looking forward to returning to the court with the French national team and beginning the EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers. I am cautious ahead of our match against Romania, a team I have great respect for. We will be facing a new coach and new players, so I expect some changes. Our objective this week will be to continue working on developing our game.
I believe the match against Slovakia is the most important one in our group. We will also have to approach the game in Belgium with great concentration, doing our job in the best way in order to make a good start and feel good ahead of the World Championship in Germany. We don't have much information about Slovakia at the moment, the team have a new coach and and also the roster have new entries, so I think we will have to adapt during the game to what happens.
We expect a demanding match in which we will have to fight for the entire 60 minutes. Italy play a very aggressive, fast and modern style of handball, built around quick counterattacks and rapid restarts after conceding a goal. It will therefore be a challenging game, not only physically but also in terms of concentration and attention throughout the match. I believe we are well prepared and ready to handle the challenge.
I missed the last training camp and test matches in May due to injury, so after eight months I’m particularly looking forward to this week with the national team and seeing the lads in this squad again. As qualification for the EHF EURO 2028 is at stake, we need to be absolutely ready for the matches against Belgium and Slovakia. Hopefully, with a good performance in Berlin against Belgium, we’ll take a lot of energy with us for the rest of the campaign. And everything we do now, in every minute of training, is already paying off for our World Championship on ground in January.
We will be facing one of the best teams in the world, featuring elite-level players. It will be a tough start, but our team has shown its strength, and we will fight for the best possible result, staying true to our principles and values.
