01.06.2020, 03:26
EHF EURO: Which was your favourite team of the past decade?

POLL: With the Men’s EHF EURO 2010 in the spotlight on our social media channels this week, we are curious to find out your personal top team from the EHF EURO events between 2010 and 2020

EHF EURO: Which was your favourite team of the past decade?

It has already been 10 years since Nikola Karabatic, Thierry Omeyer, Didier Dinart & Co. were standing on the highest step of the EHF EURO podium in Vienna.

They had crowned their outstanding tournament with a 25:21 victory in the final against Croatia of the Men’s EHF EURO 2010 in Austria. Steered by Karabatic, France earned their second trophy after 2006 in Switzerland.

MVP of the EHF EURO 2010 was Filip Jicha, while the Czech left back also became top scorer of the event.

Iceland won their only EHF EURO medal so far, beating Poland 29:26 in the bronze medal match.

This week fans can relive some of the best action from the 2010 tournament on the EHF EURO Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Looking back to the past 10 years, which has been your favourite team of the six Men’s EHF EURO events in this period?

You can vote now for Spain (champions in 2018 and 2020), France (2010, 2014), Denmark (2012) and Germany (2016) as well as for Croatia (five-time semi-finalists, twice silver medallists - in 2010 and 2020).

Here is what sets them apart:

Spain

Defence was the key when Spain won the trophy in 2018 and 2020.

Two years ago, they first beat France in the semi-final and Sweden in the final; this year the side of head coach Jordi Ribera made it unbeaten to the podium, giving away only one point to Croatia in the main round.

Slovenia in the semi and Croatia in the final could not stop Spain from becoming the first back-to-back EHF EURO champions since Sweden in 2000-02.

Since 2012, Spain have been in five straight semi-finals, ending up winning bronze in 2014 and silver in 2016.

France

In 2010, they were unbeaten European champions. In 2014, they only lost the last and unimportant main round match against Sweden: when France made it to an EHF EURO final, they won it.

In 2010, the French golden generation became the first men’s team to hold all three major trophies at the same time - Olympic champions in 2008 (and again in 2012), world champions in 2009 (and again in 2011, 2015 and 2017) and EHF EURO champions (like in 2006).

Players such as Nikola Karabatic, Luc Abalo, Michael Guigou or Daniel Narcisse left their marks with their masterclasses and were nearly unbeatable for several years. In addition, they became EHF EURO bronze medallists in 2018.

Denmark

Mikkel Hansen, Niklas Landin, Anders Eggert, Thomas Mogensen, Lasse Svan and the Toft Hansen brothers make for an impressive team, which won Olympic gold in 2016 and the world title in 2019.

At the EHF EURO, they became champions in 2012, after a lacklustre preliminary round, when they beat Serbia in the final in Belgrade.

In 2014, all was set for a home triumph but Hansen & Co. were shocked by France in the final in Herning, 41:32.

In 2018, they made it to the semis again, but lost against Sweden as well as in the bronze medal match against France once more.

Germany

2016 marked the arguably biggest upset of the past decade when Germany won their second EHF EURO title after 2004, downing Spain in the final, 24:17.

Suffering from a long list of injuries before and during the tournament, with Uwe Gensheimer, Patrick Wiencek, Patrick Groetzki, Steffen Weinhold and Christian Dissinger all out, the team steered by coaching mastermind Dagur Sigurdsson was close to elimination in the preliminary round.

But Germany beat Denmark in the crucial main round match, Norway after extra time and Spain in the final - mainly thanks to goalkeeper Andreas Wolff.

Two years earlier, in 2014, Germany had even failed to qualify for the EHF EURO following two defeats against Montenegro. In 2020, they were close to the semi-final again before losing to eventual finalists Croatia.

Croatia

They were Olympic champions in 1996 and 2004 and world champions in 2003 but are yet to win an EHF EURO gold medal.

Croatia made it to the final twice, both teams led by coach Lino Cervar: in 2010 against France and in 2020 against Spain.

In the six EHF EURO events between 2010 and 2020, Croatia missed the semi-final only once - during their home tournament in 2018.

Besides their two silver medals, Domagoj Duvnjak & Co. also won bronze in 2012 and 2016.

TEXT: Björn Pazen / ew