Throughout their mutual history, Sweden and the Netherlands have made a habit of playing close matches, with four draws recorded in the total of 17 games between then and most other score lines very close. The opening match in Vienna on Friday saw the same again, with the outcome only secured in the last 90 seconds, when the Netherlands lost the ball in their final attack and missed the chance to level the game.
The 5/6 placement match was a rematch of the clash for fifth two years ago, when Sweden beat the Netherlands 37:32. With that, Sweden secured fifth place for the second time in a row, which equals their best result since the second medal taken by the side — bronze in 2014. For the Netherlands, the sixth-place finish also equals their best ranking in the competition since the last medal — also bronze, taken in 2018. The Netherlands have now placed sixth at three straight editions of the Women’s EHF EURO.
5/6 PLACEMENT MATCH
Sweden vs Netherlands 33:32 (15:15)
- throughout the match, the scoreline was hardly ever bigger than one goal and was very often equal, with the Netherlands most often holding the edge and scoring first; the outcome was finally decided with Emma Lindqvist scoring the last goal, which the Dutch could not answer
- the Netherlands opened a two-goal lead three times in the first half, the latest at 15:13 inside the last three minutes before the break, before Sweden created the same distance in the opening minutes of the second half — but then the contest was pulled back to equal again
- Sweden goalkeeper Johanna Bundsen had a significant impact early on, saving five shots at a rate of 45 per cent up to the 15th minute, but her stops slowed after that and she took a record of seven into half-time then was replaced by Jessica Ryde in the 48th minute when Bundsen counted nine saves
- backs Lindqvist, Jamina Roberts and Dione Housheer all had high-scoring outings, with Lindqvist and Roberts netting eight goals for Sweden and Housheer nine for the Netherlands
- Housheer finishes the EHF EURO 2024 as the Netherlands’ top scorer, with 40 goals in the eight games, and was named Grundfos Player of the Match
- two unanswered goals in a row from the Netherlands brought them in front as the clocked entered the final 10 minutes, 31:29, but then Sweden responded with the same and the score was one-for-one until the winning goal
Hagman and van der Heijden join club of 50 EURO caps
Prior to the start of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024, only six players had passed the milestone of 50 games in the competition. In the 5/6 placement match on Friday, Sweden wing Nathalie Hagman and Netherlands back Laura van der Heijden both joined the exclusive club. Van der Heijden is the first Dutch player to reach the milestone, while Hagman is the second Swede after Jamina Roberts did so earlier in the EHF EURO 2024.
Both Hagman and van der Heijden have taken a silver and bronze medal at the EHF EURO — Hagman silver in 2010 and bronze in 2014; van der Heijden silver in 2016 and bronze in 2018. Hagman has scored 183 career goals at the EHF EURO while van der Heijden has netted 144, to also lead the Netherlands’ all-time list in this statistic.
Hagman is the joint-record holder for the most goals scored in a single game at the Women’s EHF EURO, sharing with Poland’s Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc. Kudlacz-Gloc set the record at 17 goals in a match against North Macedonia in 2006, while Hagman reached the mark against Russia at the EHF EURO 2018.
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.
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.
