Men's EHF EURO 2026 post-match flash quotes: 26 January
HERNING – Comments from players and coaches after round 3 matches in Men's EHF EURO 2026 main round group I on Monday.
SPAIN vs FRANCE 36:32 (20:14)
Jordi Ribera (ESP) – Spain head coach
On the win:
“Today (I'm) very happy. I’m very proud of my team. It’s very difficult after losing three matches to come here and play this match.
“I think it was perfect in the first half, in defence, in attack.
“It was together as one team. For me, today the MVP is the team. In your head it’s possible to win the match against France, a team that is very difficult, is very strong.”
Ian Tarrafeta (ESP) – centre back
On playing the perfect game:
“Everything we tried work, and we started gaining confidence and when you are going into the locker room leading for six, it makes things easier. Of course we struggled a little bit more in the second half, they came back close, but Sergey Hernández made brilliant saves to keep us alive.”
On the tactical tricks that Spain pulled out:
“These are things we worked on during the preparation, but we did not try them before. Our coach is a little bit of a nerd, so all these very high defences is something that we know how to do. We unleashed it today, and it worked fairly well.”
On whether having nothing to play helped Spain:
“Maybe a little, but we were still very disappointed to be out. Of course, it’s easier to play when you have nothing to lose, you can just play as if there is no tomorrow. But who knows? We might have played the same if we were still in the race for the final weekend.”
Guillaume Gille (FRA) – France head coach
On the defeat:
“There is a lot of disappointment and frustration at the moment. We warned the players before the game that this was a game we should play in our comfort zone, that Spain would have nothing to lose and would try some new things tactically. And that’s exactly what they did. I feel like, as a staff, we were not able to keep the players awake enough, and that the players, individually, were not ready for this fight.”
On the reasons for such a bad half:
“Nothing worked. Their aggressive defence put us in trouble, and then we did not score, and we did not stop them defensively either. The second one was much better, a lot more intensity and aggressivity, and we came back. Sadly, not close enough for them to panic. On the other hand, it felt like we had the hands shaking and we missed some open situations.”
On France not having their fate in their hands now:
“That’s a fact, and we put ourselves in this situation. It’s shitty, but that is the way it is. We will watch the game between Denmark and Germany, hope that Denmark win so we can have a final on Wednesday night against Germany. But of course, we would have liked for things to happen differently.”
Ludovic Fabregas (FRA) – line player
On the defeat:
“Everything we did was not enough. We were not focused enough, we did not play with enough smartness or intensity, especially in the first half, and Spain players, they just took the best of the situation. We knew they would have nothing to lose and that if they started playing good, we would be in trouble. And that’s what happened, sadly.”
On what he said to his teammates at half-time:
“That we had to focus more, that we had to do everything more and to give ourselves a chance. I mean, they found solutions within three passes in the first half, that was sometimes tough to swallow. The reaction we had was the good one, but we started far away on the scoreboard, and it became too much of a task to close in.”
On missing the opportunity to be in a better spot to reach the semi-finals:
“It’s hugely disappointing, we do not have our fate in our hands anymore. But there is no use crying over spilled milk. We will watch the next game, crossing our fingers for a Danish victory, and there you go. But we lost, we deserved the defeat and we deserved to be in this situation.”
PORTUGAL vs NORWAY 35:35 (17:18)
Paulo Pereira (POR) – Portugal head coach
On starting the match without the Costa brothers, especially Francisco:
“He has some little injury, so we manage this to have him (play) not too much time. Only these 20 minutes at the final it was OK. He is OK, I think, now, so we continue.”
On the match:
“It was a high-intensity game. At the final it was some details that give this draw to Norway, because we missed two penalties at the end of the game in a critical phase.
“I think we recovered our way. I think Portugal is this fight, cleverly choose the right options, and fight, especially fight. That’s what we did again today. This Portugal, I like.”
Francisco Costa (POR) – right back
On the draw:
“I think it was a great match of handball, nobody could guess who was going to win until the last seconds. The two teams had the possibility to win, we had some good opportunities, Norway also. But we were not able to convert them and, in the end, it resulted in a draw. I think this is a fair result, but one that we are not happy with.”
On the two teams not being able to take the advantage in the last 10 minutes:
“That happens sometimes, like, there is a save, and then a save afterwards and same with goals. I really do think both teams were equal today. Once again, sometimes you have a bad taste when you end on a draw, but tonight, I feel like this is a good point.”
On having to wait until the other results to know if Portugal are through:
“That was the same as before the game. After our game against France, we knew we depended on the other results, and now is no different. We are probably out of the tournament tonight, we really did the best we could. It’s hard, but I am also relived that we showed a better face than we did against France two days ago.”
Jonas Wille (NOR) – Norway head coach
On the match:
“I think we played a good match in attack, but that goes for Portugal too. We struggled in defence through all the match, but I think we had the momentum for 35, maybe 40 minutes, but then we started missing some open shots.
“Then they got the momentum, but then again we never gave up. We were three goals behind and managed to get a point. But in the end we had the ball and of course a bit disappointed that we didn’t get the last one in.
“We are fighting against a good team, so it’s not so easy. We don’t know if we’re satisfied or if we’re disappointed.”
Torbjørn Bergerud (NOR) - goalkeeper
On the draw:
“We are really disappointed but, in the meantime, I feel like we could have played better to get a better result as well. There were actions where we could have played better, especially defensively. They scored 35 goals, which is a lot, and they did not score that many fast breaks. We really missed efficiency defensively to be able to come out with a better result.”
On how tiredness might have affected Norway’s performance:
“Playing every two days is tough, especially against all these amazing teams. And we still have Denmark to play, which won’t be easy either. That’s the way it is, I think all the teams are tired and have some physical problems now. You just have to grind your teeth and try the best you can in this situation.”
On being almost out of the tournament:
“Even winning might have put us in a tough situation. Our fate was already not in our hands anymore, so nothing changes. We don’t get our hopes too high up now, we have three points and probably two teams will be on six tonight, so I guess that the competition is over for us.”
Photo © kolektiff images
