Portugal win debutant’s duel, thrilling draw in Denmark
A convincing win and a dramatic draw opened the new EHF EURO Cup season. Portugal dominated the clash of the debutants against Switzerland 33:28, while Denmark scored the final two goals to earn a 28:28 draw against Spain in a showdown between former winners of the competition.
Portugal overcame a difficult start against a strong Swiss team and gradually took control of the match. After falling behind early on, the team improved its performance, built a five-goal lead by half-time and maintained its advantage to secure an important opening victory in the EHF EURO Cup.
We made some mistakes in attack, and Portugal took the lead. In the second half, we showed character and proved that we can compete with teams like Portugal. Overall, I’m happy with our performance, but we missed too many shots to win against one of the best teams in the world.
Overall we made a bit too many mistakes. However, our defence was good for long periods of the game. Then we would make a couple of mistakes, and they had the patience to keep playing for a long time, which sadly ended with a goal for them. They disrupted our rhythm in attack, and unfortunately, we didn't get out on as many fast breaks today. It's a tough game against Spain, and they fight until the end. But today a draw is a fair result.
We played a very complete game in all aspects. We had a little blackout in the first half when we took the lead. Then they called a timeout and took the lead afterwards. But we managed to make some very good adjustments, especially in the second half, to close the gaps in the middle, which made it difficult for them to get through. I'm really, really happy with the team's performance. It's a bittersweet feeling because we had the opportunity to win the game.
