Men's EHF EURO 2026 flash quotes: 26 January

MALMÖ – Comments from players and coaches at media calls in Men's EHF EURO 2026 main round group II on Monday.

SWEDEN

Michael Apelgren (SWE) – Sweden head coach

On the defeat against Iceland:

“They did an amazing game. I think they had a lot of players who performed good. If we look at ourselves, it was a not a good performance. We could not really follow what we have agreed, especially in defence. We were not aggressive enough. We were not helping each other enough, and Iceland were always in the position in the game where they could play comfortably.

“This is how this tournament is. We are not the first team to having a bad day. And you don't need to have a very, very bad day to lose in the EURO because all teams are good.”

On the impact of the defeat:

“One of the things why Iceland won yesterday, they were more desperate than us. We were coming in a little bit comfortable. And being comfortable is always a very dangerous feeling in top sports and especially in the European championship in handball, where every team is so close to each other's level. So this is the thing we need to learn, and we need to take this as motivation and just look forward.”

On Hungary:

“It's a team with very strong physique, very strong defence. I see how good they were defending against Iceland, which now we saw yesterday how difficult it is to stop Iceland. And they were holding Iceland down on really low numbers. So there they are really good. They will also have some really smart tactical things with Chema (Rodríguez) there as a coach. So we have a very big respect for the opponent.”

On playing against Hungary:

“It's a special feeling for me personally because I work in Hungary, and I know some of the players. I also had my players in other matches as well. So, in a way, every match was interesting, it is when you work with some of the players every day. But of course now to play against Hungary, where I now live is a special feeling.”

Daniel Petersson (SWE) – right wing

On the defeat against Iceland:

“It was a really tough game. We knew that Iceland had also played really good before the game, and it was a tough opponent. And unfortunately, they were better than us. We didn't stop their attacks and we struggled a little bit in our attack. Now we have one defeat, but two more games to go and we have to refocus and prepare us for the next game.”

On the main round and Hungary:

“Every game in the European championship is hard with very strong teams. Against Hungary it will be a really physical game. They have a strong defence and we have to find solutions to break through. And then of course, we have to prepare the best possible way to win that game.”

On Hungary:

“They have a solid defence. They are big and physical and they have a goalkeeper that's doing a really good job. And now everything in our attack that we are playing back to what we have done through the tournament. Just play our game.”

Lukas Sandell (SWE) – right back

On the defeat against Iceland:

“It's never good to lose, but of course we can take it in a good way, like a wake up call. Now we can just look forward for two games against Hungary and Switzerland. That is really important. That we can make one revenge for ourselves. So hopefully this can be something good for us also.”

On what they need to improve:

“We had problems in both attack and in defence (against Iceland). So we have to find some solutions in defence. We were not that aggressive that we should be and in attack there was too many one-against-one, and we lost too many of those. And we had problem to get the ball to the to the next guy at the side. So I think we need to be better to pass the ball in attack.”

On the main round:

“This is the European championship and of course it's hard. But also it's really fun everyone around handball. We have a lot of good, tight and hard games. So it's a good thing we have four teams on same points, for handball at least.”

On the game against Hungary:

”We have to be more aggressive in defence. They have some really good shooters, but also Gergő Fazekas in the middle that is really creative. We have to see how we can stop him and take care of him.

“It will be really hard in the beginning, and we know that. We must play good in defence and counterattack. If we can get these easy goals, maybe we don't need to stay six-against-six all the time with them, because that's where they are strong. They are so physical in defence and they kill every time.”

 

SLOVENIA

Uroš Zorman (SLO) — Slovenia head coach

On their current position in the main round:

“For us, it’s great. Nobody expect that we would be in a situation like we are now, so for us it’s perfect, but we are still with two legs on the floor. We know our quality. We also know what we can do. Before, nobody believed on us but now they put something on us. They see us. So on that situation, it's nice to be coach of like one team.

“We had a lot of problems before the tournament and now we are here and we are playing like we are playing, so good.”

On how they overcame Hungary’s seven-against-six and each performance of Slovenia being so different:

“We talk that we enter in the game with little bit less energy, like we are already tired. That we cannot do. But in the half-time we spoke, of course normally.

“We talked and I said that we are missing this energy and then we talk, talk, talk and then we enter in second half full energy, so this was different.

“Against Sweden was opposite. We start good and then with second half, we enter with less energy and this decided the match from my opinion, my view of this game. So, yesterday was different and this is good. Of course, in the end we won. All second half, we had under control and this is also a new level or new character of the team — that we, all the game, all the second half, have the control on the result. And this is also for one coach good news.”

On Croatia:

“We can talk about Croatia one week if you want. If you saw all their history of handball, it's one incredible national sport of this country. So also, if you look at our history and their history, we always have some fight, always from the beginning, when we start to play.

“Again, they change the players. They change the team. They have great players and they, always, in each tournament, they are in some situation to fight for semi-final. We are here and we will fight tomorrow like we know. We will do the best and in the end, we will see what this will bring to us. I hope to the best, but we will see.”

Staš Jovičič (SLO) — left wing

On the atmosphere following the first main round win:

“Everyone is happy with first, three wins in the preliminary round, and then after the defeat against Sweden, it was nice to win against Hungary, which was a very hard game. They play against us, seven-on-six, which we didn't expect.

“But in the second half, we talked in the locker room how to fix that, how to solve this attack, and we did this very good in the second half. I think the goalkeepers did their job in the second half, also, so we score a lot of easy goals and we took the lead and we won well-deserved.”

On the group overall:

“A very exciting group, I would say. Everything is open. Everything can happen. Everyone can beat each other — like Croatia beat Iceland, Iceland beat Sweden. It's amazing. Amazing for handball. We are so close to each other.

“We need to win against Croatia if we want to come to the semi-finals and also against Iceland. If we don't win these two games, we cannot dream about semi-finals and about finals. So, the next two days will be very hard for us.”

On Croatia:

“We have a very long history with Croatians. We are neighbours. There are our south neighbours. We played against them last January in Zagreb in the full arena. They won and they went and won the second place in the World Championship, but tomorrow we have our own plans. We need to win against them and secure two points.

“They play the whole tournament their well-known defence — 5-1 with the big guy in the one position, up position. And they play very frenetically, supporting each other. When somebody attacks, they are three on one guy, so, that’s how they beat Iceland, I think.

“But we need to play our own game — fast counterattacks. Also good defence. I think they are a little bit slow. They have big players than we have. They are a little bit slower than us, and I think that this is our chance to make the difference and to win the game.”

CROATIA

Valter Matošević (CRO) – goalkeeper coach

On playing against Slovenia:

“The game against Slovenia is like a final for us. they are a very strong team. We are hoping that we will continue our winning streak and that our game will progress.”

On Slovenia:

“They are playing great handball. They had some problems with injuries and cancellations, but team here at the European championship is good. They are playing fast, aggressive handball with good defence. However, we are also playing great, especially in the attack, while we can improve our defence.”

On the goalkeepers’ performance:

“Even though the stats are not showing, defence is good and our goalkeepers always deliver when they are needed, when the result was close. They were saving key shots. They are ready and I believe they will be even better in the next games.”

Tin Lučin (CRO) – centre back

On the main round:

“Two more games are left in the main round. We need to do our best job and give our maximum to win. We also have to wait for Iceland or Sweden to lose, the road to the semi-finals is still wide open.”

On Slovenia:

“They had a lot of injured players, but they have wide rotation and quality players and they are still good team. They showed it so far at the tournament. It will be tough. We will have to be on level in order to beat them.”

On Slovenia's key strengths:

“Domen Makuc and Blaž Janc are biggest threats in the attack, they are world-class players. But other player are also great. We have to do a good analysis.”

Veron Načinović (CRO) – line player

On Slovenia:

“Last year (at the World Championship) we had a bad start against Slovenia but won in the end. They are a strong team and maybe a bit different style of play compared to the last years. They play faster with Blaž Janc as a leader on the right back. Still, we also have something to offer against them, we have good solutions for their attack and defence.”

On Slovenia's performance:

“They opened the tournament a bit topsy-turvy against Montenegro, with a tight win. Against Switzerland they came back from minus seven to win, and they deserve to be here.”

On his performance:

“I'm always in favour of competition getting tougher. Zlatko Raužan played brilliantly. We're all good friends, and the better he is, the more it motivates me to be better. That's how it's always been throughout my career. It's a pleasure to share the team with him, Josip Šimić and Leon Šušnja.”

Ivano Pavlović (CRO) – centre back

On Slovenia:

“They are playing fast handball with Blaž Janc in incredible form. We could se in the group phase they were scoring around 35 goals and it says enough about their attack and play. It will be tough, it will be intense rhythm. We need to prepare, especially mentally.”

 

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