Men's EHF EURO 2026 flash quotes: 20 January
MALMÖ – Comments from players and coaches at media calls at of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 on Tuesday.
SWEDEN
Michael Apelgren (SWE) – Sweden head coach
On the history between Sweden and Croatia:
“It's a top nation, and we are also one of them. We have been battling through the years. It's amazing for everybody involved to be in this emotional games. We come from really different backgrounds of handball and culture. But in the end, we love the same thing for the passion and for the sport, but we do it in different ways. So it's really nice to fight against them, and I think they think so, too.”
On how Croatia play:
“This is very typical Croatia. They do what they need and in the big games, I have seen this million times. They do exactly like they did against the Netherlands and Georgia to win the matches. They showed in the last 10 minutes against the Netherlands what they are capable of. They had great last season and were celebrated in Croatia. It's a national team that is going up.”
On playing in front of Swedish fans:
“There's a plus and a minus with it. But we also know with Croatia that when we come into this arena tomorrow, it will be quite a lot of Croatians. I'm also working in Pick Szeged with Marin Jelinić and Mario Šoštarić and they asked me some months ago 'are you sure that it will be home court when we play against you?' Because there will be a lot of Croatian supporters too. We will see which team has the best home court this day.”
On Marin Jelinić and Mario Šoštarić:
”It's a more emotional game for me as well because it's two guys that I really like and that I'm working with all the time. So it will be a special feeling to play against them. And it will not be easy to stop them. Maybe I put my marking on them.
“Šoštarić was voted for the best player in the world on his position in our first year working together. It's a guy that I really trust too. He's one of my captains, so I really, really like him. But tomorrow we are enemies, so it's a special feeling.”
On Felix Claar:
“We are a team that has a lot of players that are experienced and have been doing this for a lot of years, but many are not on the same position in the handball world as they were three or four years ago.
“But Claar is now on a higher standard than he was three or four years ago, so that has turned to be a key player for us. He shows it on the level when he's playing, so for sure he's a guy that we lean to and it will be very important. But you know, when you play against Croatia, they are very cynical. I think they will try to make life difficult for him. This is a lot of times how they do tactically. So this we have to count on.”
Albin Lagergren (SWE) – right back
On playing in a packed arena:
“It's a fantastic feeling to run in to the audience. You always get a really good boost.”
On Croatia:
“Croatia is one of the best teams in the world. They came second in the last (world) championship. So it's unbelievable good team. And we know what strength they have. And we really have to do a good match to beat them.”
On Croatia's strengths:
“The first thing that comes to mind is a very aggressive 5-1 defence and a really hard defence. They make you do some technical faults and, and then they punish you with good shooters and fast attack.”
On SC Magdeburg teammate Matej Mandić:
“I think he has the advantage tomorrow. It's going to be fun. I always think it's fun to play against your own teammates. Mandić is a fantastic goalkeeper, and he has grown a lot since he came to Magdeburg. He is getting better and better in the goal.
“It's going to be tough to play against him if he's in the goal. But I will have to beat him.”
Nikola Roganović (SWE) – left back
On winning against Georgia and the Netherlands:
“It's very good that we took these two matches very serious. We knew that both the Netherlands and Georgia are a very good competitors. I'm really glad that we are in the main round now and in a group final against Croatia that we will hopefully win and come in the main round with the two points.”
On Croatia:
“We know that Croatia is a very good team. I mean, they came into the final in the World Championship. Very good individual players at all positions. So we really need to take them serious and we will. We want to come in as good as possible in the main round to, to then hopefully proceed to the semi-finals.”
On Balkan mentality:
“I think that also the Swedish fans, when they see me play, they see a little bit of Balkan in me when I score and I shout like crazy. So that's something that I think is also appreciated in Sweden. They really like people with much energy. I also feel like the team is coming up in that mentality also, that they just want to pump up the fans and, and make it better atmosphere in the arena.”
On his performance:
“When I step onto the court, I always feel like I want to score and I want to win. Whether it's Croatia or Georgia or Netherlands in front of me, I will just go with 120 per cent at the all time. I have never been scared or feared anything on the handball pitch, I don't think I will ever be. That's my kind of mentality that I go into every match and that is just to go all in and don't regret anything afterwards.”
CROATIA
Filip Glavaš (CRO) – right wing
On Croatia's performance:
“Two tough games. We had a bit of pressure in the first games because we knew how important that first game is. The Netherlands are a great team, together for a long time with Luc Steins, Dani Baijens and Niels Versteijnen, but we did good analysis. Our defence worked well and eased our attack. We played as a real team.”
On qualifying for the main round:
“We are through and now the pressure is on Sweden. They are playing at home and they have to impress. Our job is to play good, as a team and we will try to make things tough for them. We want to win. We can't wait.”
On the next game against Sweden:
“They are a top team. I don't know where to start: from goalkeepers to wing players and backcourt players, high-level players. They deserve our respect, but we are Croatia, we have also great players. We have to be careful, we still remember that game at the Paris Olympics. We had good start but were defeated by a lot. However, this is a new game, a new atmosphere and new story.”
Zvonimir Srna (CRO) – left back
On the start of the competition:
“After the game against Georgia there were a lot of questions between us, we said we need the energy and team spirit we had at the last competition. We regained that against the Netherlands and that is the most important thing.”
On Croatia's back court line:
“We had some problems during preparation and test matches, just like against Georgia. We struggled, but against the Netherlands things finally started to work. It's important because we gained confidence for the upcoming matches.”
On his physical condition:
“I haven't been playing for almost two months and I have to be honest, it's a bit tough, but I am trying to give my best to the team.”
On the upcoming game against Sweden:
“We know what it means when you play in front of your own fans. They have that energy and strength coming from fans at the stands, but also, it's a big pressure. ”
On what Croatia needs against Sweden:
“We have a great defence and I still fear our attack a bit, and our return to defence. We have to be patient. We need to keep our mistakes to a minimum so we don't allow them to score easy goals.”
NETHERLANDS
Staffan Olsson (SWE) – Netherlands head coach
On the defeat against Croatia:
“In the first half we were missing too many good chances and a few easy technical faults that punished us quite hard because we were quite OK in the defence in the first half. And then we were getting a little bit lower in the defence in the second half. But we still had chances to come up, to draw and even to go one goal ahead. But we didn't take the chances. In the end, it's tough for us when we don't use them.”
On Georgia:
“They are playing really good, especially against Croatia. They were on the even level in 45 minutes. So they have showed that it will be a really tough game for us. And with this kind of back players, what they have, they are playing quite creative handball. So it's not always so easy to analyse them. So we really need to be on our toes, especially in defence.”
On the strengths of the Dutch team:
“We will of course, try to run and play fast handball. That is also that way we can do best so that we will push on that even in the third game.”
On injuries:
“Other teams also get injured players during the tournament. So that is unfortunate, and it is for us too. But we have to live with that. And we cannot sit and feel sorry about ourselves. We need to play with the guys we have and do the best of it.”
Matthias Rex Dorgelo (NED) – goalkeeper
On failing to qualify for the main round:
“It's hard. The whole team is really disappointed. We had the chance in both matches. But it shows also that you can't have a longer periods where you're bad against such great teams, it's difficult. We had the chance against Croatia, and we didn't take it. Or we were too unfocused or what it was. It's difficult to win those games against the world vice-champion and Sweden at home court.”
On missing key players in both matches – Luc Steins against Croatia, and Dani Baijens against Sweden:
“When you have two key players that give such confidence in the team and they go out of the game, it costs both physically and mentally. In the Sweden game it gave Sweden like this extra mentally. power, and also against Croatia when Dani had to leave the court.”
On the motivation for the last game:
“It's not going to be hard to motivate. We want to go out of this European championship with the win. It's also important for the World Championship qualification. And it's important for ourselves and our character and what we stand for — that we fight every game. So it's not going to be hard.”
On Georgia:
“They are really a good team, actually they surprised me a bit the first game against Croatia. But they showed that even though they have young players, they can just keep going and going. They have some key players in the back in the back court. I'm sure it's going to be a tough game.”
Bobby Schagen (NED) – right wing
On two defeats at the EHF EURO:
“That's tough. But that's something we had to deal with the last few years that we played really good against top countries, but we didn't manage to win. It's tough, but it shows that we are close to them. But also that we have a lot of work to do.”
On the motivation for the last game:
“It's not so hard to motivate because it's an important game for the World Championship. And I really want to play the there again. So it's even more important than the first two games. It sounds a little bit strange, but I think it's not hard to motivate for this. And also we don't want to go home without a win, so we need to win this game.”
On Georgia's progress:
“They developed really good. They have some really spectacular players and it will be a tough game. I think both teams are a little bit tired now so it can be a close game.”
On what the Netherlands need:
“We need to play our game. It doesn't matter against who we are playing. We need to play fast because that's our strength. We don't have the best defence yet, but I think our attack is really good. So we have a lot of small but fast players, and that's something we need to, to keep doing.”
On Georgia's key players:
“They have great back court players, especially right and left back. They make spectacular goals. They can make a goal out of nowhere. And that is their main super power.”
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