Spain avoid shock defeat in qualifier against Italy; all home teams win
The long road to the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 has started on Wednesday. On the opening night of round 1 of the EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers, all home teams were victorious. However, Spain — EHF EURO champions in 2018 and 2020 — only just escaped what would have been a sensational home defeat against Italy, ultimately winning the match 31:30.
We were hit with a low period in the second half and that really stings. We played well, actually, we gave good pressure to the opponents, but unfortunately leaked a little in the centre. A lot of respect to my guys who fought so well.
They are a quality team; they did everything we expected and practiced. As soon as we took the lead, they started playing seven-on-six. Some of our mistakes complicated the game. I’m very pleased for the fans that we achieved this victory. The guys looked strong and solid, precisely because of the support from the stands.
This is an important victory for Montenegro, and we fought hard and played well. The home team led for most of the game, but we had our chances, although we also had issues in defence. (Nebojsa) Simic is an exceptional goalkeeper. We tried to disrupt Montenegro with the seven-on-six play, and with a bit of luck, we could have taken a point.
It was a game that we expected: the Slovakians are fast and play good one against one, which caused problems for us. In the first half, we had a better defence; after half-time, we were better in attack. So it was not easy but I’m proud of my team for this victory, since we missed many players today.
I think we played good in attack, but we made mistakes in defence. We lost, but we are not disappointed with the result, since Hungary are very strong with one of the best defences of the world.
Very nervous in the first half without having the necessary flow and movement. In the second half the team appeared very strong in defence, the players gave everything. We had clear opportunities 6 against 5 to open the gap but due to frivolous mistakes we did not succeed. The Georgian team found many goals with passive play at the end of the attack, which also affected us psychologically. Nevertheless, with a clear mind and mental reserves we managed to get the victory.
If they had told me two days ago that we would lose this game by one goal, I would have been happy. But the way the match developed we could have won or at least got a point. The group remains open, we will continue our efforts.
For the first 15 minutes, we were tight. Then we missed a lot of shots in a situation where we were one-on-one with the goalkeeper. All these are the consequences of the fact that we had only two training sessions to prepare for this game. Still, we have plenty to be happy about.
We were together for the last time in January. A lot of players were missing, some were with the national team for the first time, without international experience. So, I'm satisfied. But I'm not too satisfied, because I think we can do better. I think that there were a lot of positive details and that this selection will only improve.
It's difficult to play that game. In the first half, the team fails a lot, Italy take a lead by two goals. Italy are a good team. In the second half, the team grows especially in defence, we correct the mistakes. We lead by two goals and we can keep that until the end. The most important is the two points, and give that gift to the people in Valencia.
I’m proud of my team. Congratulations to Spain, because in the second half they showed their winning mentality to come back in the game. Now we are focused on Serbia, which for us is a final. We have shown that handball in Italy is growing, and hopefully, they will help us continue to grow.
In today’s match we gave minutes to some players who can be very useful for the team in the future. I’m glad that they got the experience of the game. I’m very happy about players like Daniel Bláha or Dominik Skopár. They are young players and they played very well. It was important for us to win and we are very satisfied with the points.
