Flash quotes: 13 December
VIENNA - Comments from players and coaches after Norway beat Hungary 30:22 in the semi-finals and Sweden beat the Netherlands 33:32 in the 5/6 placement match on Friday.
HUNGARY 22:30 NORWAY
Vlagyimir Golovin (HUN) – head coach
On the defeat against Norway:
“In the first half we managed to stay close to Norway, but we were playing against one of the best teams in the world. Still, we managed to put on the court what we wanted to. In the second half, the difference between two teams started to show.
“The team with more experience won today, and they have so many. We are here for the first time after 12 years, so we are sure that we will use this opportunity to grow in the future.”
On the bronze medal match:
“We still don't know against who we will play, but we will find out soon. Good thing is the atmosphere was amazing today, it was like we are in Debrecen and huge thanks to the fans. We will prepare for the opponent on Sunday and I believe we will perform our best once again.”
Petra Simon (HUN) – centre back
On what was missing in the game:
“Honestly, I think that in the first half we kept up the fast breaks. Our defence was compact and we could come back to two goals at half-time.
“In the second half they dominated so much from the 10th minute, they started to get a bigger gap. I am sad because we wanted to show that we are here in the best four European teams, but we have one more match on Sunday that we want to win and get the bronze medal, and I hope that it will work out for us.”
On how satisfied she is with the team’s performance in the tournament:
“It was said that we have to reach sixth place in this tournament, but we are in the final four and I am really glad that we made it. And I am satisfied with my team’s performance.
“Although today didn’t work out, Norway are on another level and we have to work much more to be on their level. But I think that I and the whole team see the way to be as good a team as Norway, but I am really glad that we are here and we have one more match. As I said, we have to win that.”
Nikolett Tóth (HUN) – centre back
On the defeat:
“We fought until the end, we wanted to win but we knew that Norwegian team is a high-level team. it's hard to play against them. We put 100 per cent to the court, but it wasn't enough. We are looking forward to the next game, we want to win. We have no time to be sad.”
On the atmosphere:
“It’s really good that a lot of people support us. It's nice to have so many of them in Vienna, and it feels like we have one more player on the court.”
Thorir Hergeirsson (ISL) – head coach, Norway
On reaching the final:
“I love to be here and in this atmosphere. We love to play for medals and this is our big dream, my dream with the team. They work hard and we prepared well and we are enjoying it.
“We had some small problems in the middle of the first half, some injuries, some changes, some suspensions but I think overall, Katrine (Lunde) on the goal and defence and the attack, many players taking the responsibility, it was good.
“I will enjoy this tonight and I will work hard from tomorrow for preparing the team for the final.”
Stine Skogrand (NOR) – right back
On reaching the EHF EURO final:
“It's amazing feeling right now even though we are a bit tired after the game. It was a good semi-final match. We were well prepared and we were good one-against-one.
“I really admire how Hungarians play. They are really fast and strong players. Also, I think this will be good for us for the final.”
On their performance:
“We were happy with the defence in the first half and we knew we have to stick together and keep going. And we did.
“We made a lot of free throws in the second half, and it was harder and harder for Hungary to go through. I also think they eventually gave up and wanted to save some players for the next game. That also made a difference.”
Emilie Hovden (NOR) – right wing
On the key to their win in the semi-final:
“I feel that defence was the key, we were really good in defence and they struggled to score goals when we were in six against six in the defence. Our goalkeepers, again, saved a lot and we can run and play good in attack and get a lot of goals in the end. It’s a good victory.”
On the possible opponents in the final:
“We take what we get, we cannot do anything about it. We will watch the game and be ready if it’s France or Denmark, they are two good teams anyway, so we just prepare for what we get.”
Katrine Lunde (NOR) – goalkeeper
On the key to their win:
“First of all, the amazing atmosphere today. It was really great, when the Hungarians are coming there will always be a lot of noise. And actually I was surprised that there were many Norwegians, so that was really nice.
“Today we had a really good defence, we knew that it would be a physical match for us in defence and we were prepared for this. I think we wanted to rotate a bit in defence so that we have power in the match. You can see especially in the second half that they were a bit more tired than us and we could have some extra goals.”
SWEDEN 33:32 NETHERLANDS
Tomas Axnér (SWE) – head coach
On finishing fifth:
“Amazing feeling of course. We wanted to finish this championship with a victory. Although it didn't mean so much, coming fifth means a lot for us and that we had good results in the last five years, meaning we stayed in the top of European handball.”
On the overall performance:
“I think we struggled a bit with our game. We had some problems with our attack like through whole tournament and we didn't find our way of play until the end. So, today was a step forward to how we want to play. It was a fantastic game to play with a good tempo, but also with a lot of mistakes.”
Jenny Carlson (SWE) – centre back
On winning the 5/6 placement match:
“It was a close game for whole 60 minutes. It was a hard game, but I’m happy with the victory in the end.”
On the EHF EURO as a whole:
“Every one of us wanted to get that medal, and we have been kind of disappointed. But there are four great teams in the semi-finals and you can't expect it's easy to win against them. It's hard but we have to get better next time.”
Henrik Signell (SWE) – head coach, Netherlands
On the defeat:
“It could (have) went on both sides. Today was to Sweden's side. We had the match in our hands and we lost it, in many ways because of our mistakes, especially in defence.”
On the EHF EURO result:
“It's an OK performance. We had some really good performances and some not that good. Overall, I think it's somewhere in between. We need to evaluate and reflect on what we need to improve and what we did good.”
Dione Housheer (NED) – right back
On the defeat against Sweden:
“It was a tough game. It was very physical from both sides. We scored a lot of goals so defences were not so good. It's all about details, we missed some things in the end and lost.”
On their EHF EURO performance:
“I'm proud of the team. We have new constellations (line-ups) for the first time. But we were so close to the semi-finals, and now the fifth place so we are not totally satisfied. But we have to learn from this and come back even stronger.”
