A mouthwatering clash between Sweden, the four-time European champions, and the winner of the last two EHF EURO editions, Spain, headlines the card for group E in Bratislava, which is also a rematch of the finals from 1998 and 2018.
Moving over to in group F in Košice, the two teams that won their first match, Norway and Russia, will try to extend their perfect start at the EHF EURO 2022. Meanwhile Slovakia and Lithuania clash to stay alive in the competition.
GROUP E
Czech Republic vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Saturday 15 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV
- both sides lost their openers: the Czechs surprised by a close 26:28 against defending champions Spain, while the Bosnians lost 18:30 against Sweden
- Bosnia and Herzegovina still wait for their first ever point at EHF EURO events, having lost all four matches in 2020 and 2022. The 26:28 result against Spain was the fifth straight EHF EURO defeat for the Czechs
- both teams have extremely strong goalkeepers, playing in Germany’s Bundesliga: Czech Tomas Mrkva (Bergischer HC) was awarded Player of the Match against Sweden after 16 saves, Benjamin Buric (SG Flensburg-Handewitt) had a strong start against Sweden
- the Czech Republic and Bosnia and Herzegovina have played six times in official matches, with the Czechs winning four and the Bosnians two. However, Saturday’s match on Saturday is their first duel at a major tournament
- six Bosnian players were unable to play against Sweden due to positive Covid-19 tests
Rastislav Trtik, coach Czech Republic: “I know some Bosnian players personally from my time as coach in Germany and Poland. The Bosnians have a quality team – and of course there are no weak opponents at a European Championship. Compared to the match against Spain, we have to improve our attack and to score more. I am optimistic that we can improve.”
Ivica Obrvan, coach Bosnia and Herzegovina: “The Czech Republic are a very good team and they are supported by a lot of fans here. We are playing to win, but we know that it will be a hard match for us. I hope that some players can return on Saturday who were missing against Sweden and that we will play better.”
Spain vs Sweden
Saturday 15 January, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV
- both sides secured opening victories in Bratislava – while Spain needed to fight hard to beat the Czechs, Sweden easily cruised past Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Spain and Sweden both reached the podium at the IHF Men’s World Championship 2021, when Sweden won silver and Spain took bronze. They also met in the EHF EURO 2018 final, when Spain took their first of two continental trophies and avenged their 23:25 defeat in the EHF EURO 1998 final
- Spain is the only country with three medals at the last three major competitions: gold at EHF EURO 2020 and bronze at the World Championship 2021 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In Tokyo, they beat Sweden 34:33 in the quarter-final
- Sweden are record EHF EURO winners with four titles (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002); Spain won in 2018 and 2020 and could become the first team ever to win three titles in a row
- Spain’s rejuvenated team have a run of 13 unbeaten EHF EURO matches in a row after beating the Czechs
Jordi Ribera, coach Spain: “We expect a really tough match against Sweden, as they belong to the strongest rivals you can imagine. Every time we faced them in the previous competitions, those matches ended by close results. This duel will be very challenging for us and we have to improve our efficiency in attack and our general performance level.”
Glenn Solberg, coach Sweden: “This will be a very difficult game for us. Spain belong to the best teams in the world with a lot of great, smart players. But we know that when we play our best, we can beat everyone.”