16.06.2013, 10:12
FYR Macedonia secure last remaining ticket to the EHF EURO 2014

Thrilling victory against Portugal brings the qualification for Denmark for Kiril Lazarov and his teammates

FYR Macedonia secure last remaining ticket to the EHF EURO 2014

All 16 participants of the EHF EURO 2014 have been confirmed: FYR Macedonia, the fifth ranked team at the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia, completed the list for Denmark after a 26:19 victory against Portugal on home court on Sunday (16 June) evening.

The teams that have qualified for the final tournament in Denmark in January 2014 are as follows:

Denmark (hosts/defending champions), Spain, FYR Macedonia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, France, Norway, Croatia, Hungary, Sweden, Poland, Iceland, Belarus, Serbia, Austria, and Russia (as the best third ranked team).

The draw for the preliminary round groups will take place in the final venue in Herning on Friday (21 June) at 18:30 hrs. local time (live stream available via www.ehf-euro.com) ahead of a match between Denmark and Poland.

Group 1: FYR Macedonia vs. Portugal 26:19 (14:10)

Temporarily the match was on the edge, but finally FYR Macedonia clinched their third berth at an EHF EURO tournament following their participations in 1998 and 2010.

Portugal showed great resistance – and a draw already would have been enough to see them progress.

But thanks to the saves of goalkeeper Borko Ristovski and the better options in defence, Kiril Lazarov and his teammates made it to Denmark 2014.

FYR Macedonia were the team with the lowest number of overall points (6) to qualify in second rank for the EHF EURO, following two wins against Switzerland and the final victory against Portugal.

Until the score stood at 20:17 the match was quite close, but then the host forged ahead, while Portugal lacked the power to stay in the game.

At the latest at 24:18 the the match's winners were confirmed – and after the final whistle the spectators in the hall in Skopje went crazy and started celebrating their handball heroes.

TEXT: Björn Pazen / ts