Four teams book main round spots at M19 EHF EURO

After the second day of matches in Croatia, four teams have confirmed their place in the main round of the Men's 19 EHF EURO 2021: Sweden, Spain, Denmark and Germany.

All four teams have two wins from two matches and have qualified for the next phase, but the remaining places will be decided in Sunday's matches.

GROUP A

Italy vs Iceland 17:30 (8:12)

• while Iceland’s lead was only four goals at half-time, a 7:0 run in the second half extended their advantage to 27:16 with six minutes remaining
• Iceland goalkeeper Adam Thorsteinsson (41 per cent efficiency) made 12 saves from 29 shots faced, as his side prevented Italy from repeating their strong attacking performance against Serbia
• for Italy, all of top scorer Thomas Bortoli’s six goals came in the second half. Qualification berths in group A will be decided in the last round of matches

Slovenia vs Serbia 30:36 (15:15)

• Mitja Janc followed up his 10-goal performance on the opening day for Slovenia with another nine goals against Serbia
• however, with Serbia's shot efficiency remaining high throughout the match, Slovenia could not stop their opponents from moving clear in the second half   
• Luka Rogan, who scored six goals for Serbia was one of two players in the match to receive a red card. The other player was Slovenia's Blaz Fergola

GROUP B

Israel vs Sweden 25:29 (11:16)

• Elliot Stenmalm impressed again for Sweden, scoring 12 goals from 17 shots, as his side recorded their second win
• the only downside for Sweden, who have now qualified for the main round, occurred when Oscar Lindqvist was shown a red card in the 39th minute 
• Or Refael Levi scored six goals for Israel, who only trailed by two goals with 12 minutes to go, but he could not prevent his side suffering a second loss

Hungary vs Spain 27:29 (14:13)

• with their second win from two matches, Spain joined Sweden in confirming their qualification for the main round
• Spain trailed at half-time and had to work hard in the second half to overcome Hungary
• when top scorer Jan Gurri Aregay (eight goals) put them ahead 28:26 with less than two minutes left, the two points were in the bag for Spain

GROUP C

Russia vs Denmark 26:38 (13:19)

• Russia were in contention in the first half until Denmark enjoyed a 5:0 run that took the score from 11:10 to 16:10
• although Denmark's goalkeepers shared court time, they both finished with high save percentages. Mikkel Løvkvist (39 per cent) stopped nine shots from 23 faced, while Matthias Dorgelo (40 per cent) made eight saves from 20 shots 
• with two wins from two matches, Denmark are through to the main round. Russia cannot reach the main round 

Norway vs Germany 21:27 (10:15)

• Germany steadily built their lead in the first half as Norway struggled with their shooting 
• Renars Uscins led Germany in attack, scoring an impressive 10 goals from 11 shots, while goalkeeper David Späth (52 per cent) made 11 stops from 21 shots
• with four points from two matches, Germany have joined Denmark in the main round. Norway, like Russia, will play in the intermediate round after completion of the preliminary round

GROUP D

Austria vs Croatia 27:37 (14:19)

• Marin Bozicevic's nine goals from nine shots in the second half helped power Croatia to a 10-goal victory
• Croatia are the only team in group D with four points from two matches, but their match against France on Sunday may decide their qualification fate
• Austria cannot reach the main round after suffering two straight defeats

Portugal vs France 29:26 (11:11)

• Francisco Costa's 13 goals and Andre Sousa's nine goals for Portugal were more than two thirds of the team's total
• while Portugal relied on two players to score the majority of their goals in attack, Mattéo Fadhuile-Crepy scored 11 goals for France
• Portugal will play Austria in the last round of matches, while France have what is probably a must-win game against Croatia