The 43:23 victory against Ukraine was their biggest-ever win in their 10th EHF EURO participation and also their all-time EHF EURO high score. Both previous records were scored in the 42:25 win against Montenegro in 2022.
Ukraine showed spirit after the break, although the match had long been decided, but took their 11th straight EHF EURO defeat since 2010. The top scorers were Sarah Dekker, who was awarded Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, with eight goals for the Netherlands; and Tatiana Smbatian with seven strikes for Ukraine.
GROUP F
Ukraine vs Netherlands 23:43 (12:24)
- as against Germany, the Netherlands started weakly and trailed 0:3 in the first three minutes, but then only needed 20 more minutes for the fist double-figured lead at 18:8
- for the first time at this EHF EURO, Ukraine scored more than 10 goals in the first half after nine against both Germany (9:15) and Iceland (9:16)
- after the break, the Netherlands continued their high-speed handball, but lacked efficiency and precision in attack – the win could have even been bigger, but also Ukrainian goalkeeper Mariia Poliak saved some shots
- after getting almost no playing time in the first two matches, Dutch EHF EURO record player (now on 45 matches) and record scorer (139 goals) Laura van der Heijden shone against Ukraine with seven strikes
- new Dutch arrival Kim Molenaar, who replaced Inger Smits against Ukraine, had a great start, netting four times
Ukraine’s wait extended, Dutch dream alive
The EHF EURO 2024 is over for Ukraine. The young team were in Innsbruck to learn, but were taught some tough lessons. Against Iceland, they showed a great comeback, but the gap at half-time (9:16) was too big to bridge, losing 24:27.
Against the two top-seeded teams from Germany and the Netherlands, they were chanceless in all departments. After a 10-year absence from the EHF EURO, Ukraine have zero points, and 12 consecutive defeats since 2010.
On the other hand, the Netherlands travel to Vienna with a clear record of six points. Though experienced stars such as Estavana Polman and Kelly Dulfer are not in the squad, others took the responsibility like Dione Housherr. Against Iceland and in the beginning of the match against Germany, the Dutch side was shaken, the last match against Ukraine was like a walk in the park. Now the rejuvenated team has to prove their strengths against top nations Denmark and Norway in the main round – hoping for the first semi-final berth in a major tournament since becoming world champions in 2019.
We lost too many balls in attack and caused too many turnovers and technical mistakes. So we lost our morale and we could not stop them running.
We bring two points to Vienna, this is very good. But the main round will be really tough, facing Norway and Denmark and knowing that we have to beat at least one of them to proceed. This is hard, but we will give our best to cause a surprise.
