France and Denmark leave it late to book semi-final spots

Denmark was a team on a mission on Wednesday evening at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO in Poland. Lying bottom of Group 1 without a point, a win was the only way to keep the hope of a semi-final alive.

Win was exactly what the young Danes did, and they won big. Driven by the formidable goalkeeping of Emil Nielsen and Nicolaj Norager’s 10 goals, Denmark burst into a 20:9 lead and left the Swedes with no chance as the game ended 34:22.

This result meant that Switzerland needed just a point to progress and they looked well on their way in the first half, leading by five at one point.

However, the Spaniards fought their way back within one by half-time and moved up a gear in the final 15 minutes to maintain their 100% record and consign Switzerland to third place in the group.

Group 2 was no less nerve wracking, with France and Germany squaring off for qualification alongside Hungary, the first side to guarantee their semi-final place and 33:26 winners over Poland in the other group game.

France and Germany began with high intensity and was closely fought throughout, with the sides going into the dressing rooms level at 16:16. In the second half, Germany began to take control of the game and held a four-goal lead entering the final phase of the match.

However, the French never gave up and Yanis Lenne proved to be the hero with a buzzer beater to snatch a 30:30 draw and book their place in the last four.

The semi-finals will see Spain vs France and Hungary vs Denmark in Gydnia on Friday evening.

In the intermediate round, wins for Iceland, Russia, Croatia and Belarus see these sides play for 9-12 place, while FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Romania and Czech Republic will take part in the 13-16 placement bracket.

Live steaming and tournament information

The Men’s 18 EHF EURO takes place in the Polish cities of Gdynia and Gdansk from 14 to 24 August 2014. All matches will be streamed live on the official website. Further information can be found on the site and the event's Facebook page.

During the tournament eurohandball.com and the EHF EURO Facebook page will also feature regular reports, features and photo galleries.

Austria hosted the Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2012. Back then Germany won, Sweden came second and Denmark placed third.