30.01.2026, 05:00
Men's EHF EURO 2026 flash quotes: 30 January

Comments from players and coaches after the Men's EHF EURO 2026 semi-finals and 5/6 placement match

HERNING — Comments from players and coaches after the Men's EHF EURO 2026 semi-finals and 5/6 placement match.

SEMI-FINALS

Germany vs Croatia 31:28 (17:15)

Alfred Gislason (ISL) — Germany head coach:

On the match:

“We now have only a few hours to prepare the final, but I am very happy to be in the final, as my team really played very well. Croatia played extremely well in the first half. In the second half, they were tired. I am really proud of my team. We had a good defence all the time and played with patience in attack. That’s why we won the game. All players played well — not a single outperformer like in some matches before, but a stable performance of all.”

On playing the second final within 18 months, after the 2024 Olympics:

“We a young and inexperienced team, but with extraordinary talents. It was brilliant to make it to the Olympic final and now it was even more sensational, when you saw which opponents we had to face on the way there. The young players matured. They made some huge steps ahead and learnt a lot. This development of the team is what I appreciate most.”

On the potential final opponent:

“As an Icelander, of course I hope for Iceland, but it looks rather like Denmark. In Lille, we lost the final against them, and I was really disappointed — not on the fact that we lost, but how we lost. If we face them again on Sunday, it is our goal to play a much better final, regardless if it will be enough in the end.”

On line player Justus Fischer:

“Finally, he found his role and became a crucial player in defence and attack. Today, there was one scene when he had three blocks in one Croatian attack. This was unbelievable. In general, he now is an extremely strong defender in all matches at this EURO.”

Matthes Langhoff (GER) – left back

On the victory:

“I’m absolutely delighted and completely overwhelmed. I’m over the moon. Reaching the final straight away at my first tournament with the men’s team – fantastic. But we still have one step to go; the ultimate goal is still ahead of us.”

On the decisive phase at the start of the second half:

“The Croatians played six-against-six, which we coped with much better than the seven-against-six. We were very solid in defence and extremely mobile. Croatia then struggled to find their passing options. From our defence we produced an excellent fast-break game, and we had plenty of space.”

On the final opponent:

“Whoever it is, it all comes down to defence. Both teams play at a very high tempo, so we’ll have to get back extremely quickly. If we stay compact, a lot is possible – even if it turns out to be Denmark.”

Julian Köster (GER) — left back

On reaching the final:

“It still feels a bit surreal that the final is already coming up. I’m incredibly happy and immensely proud of the way we approached the game today.”

On the decisive phase after the break:

“As in every match, we wanted to come out of the dressing room strongly, and today that worked very well. [Johannes] Golla and [Justus] Fischer did a superb job in the central block, and Andi Wolff was Andi Wolff, as always. That’s how we got easy fast-break goals and pulled clear — that was the key.”

On the phase when Croatia closed the gap again:

“The game isn’t over until the final whistle. Andi [Wolff] makes a hugely important save on a fast break, and it was a difficult match right to the end, but we deserved to win.”

On the possible final opponents:

“No idea. I haven’t really thought about it yet. The nice thing is that we can now watch it comfortably from the sofa. In any case, we’ve got plenty of video footage on both teams, and two extra hours for recovery.”

Dagur Sigurdsson (ISL) — Croatia head coach

On the match:

“Germany played a very good game. We played a very good first half. In the goalkeeper performance, there was too much difference. When [Dominik] Kuzmanović came in, we could put them under pressure. But they are two young goalkeepers — they will learn from this match. In the second half, it was a bit chaotic. We had to change more players in defence and attack, and the seven-versus-six did not work that much. The first half was excellent. We could control the tempo, but then it was difficult, when we were always some goals behind.”

David Mandić (CRO) — left wing:

On his injury:

“First, it was the knee. In the end it was a cramp. But I definitely want to play on Sunday. It’s not that serious.”

On the reasons for the defeat:

“Germany were much better. [Andreas] Wolff was outstanding. Wolff made the difference today. He was incredible in the first half, and when it got tight again, he saved a lot of shots once more. We played poorly, but there’s still something to play for. Now we have to recover and be fully focused.”

Mateo Maraš (CRO) — right back:

On the match:

“We missed a lot of chances, as their goalkeeper was amazing. We played a good game. The problem was the beginning of the second half, when they took the lead. We tried to catch them, but they played smart and better than us. This is why they are in the final.”

On the ¾ placement match:

“We have not finished. We need to put our heads up for the bronze match and try to win the medal. We still have a goal. If we finish with a medal, this would be a big achievement. It was the main reason when we came here — to win a medal.”

5/6 PLACEMENT MATCH

Portugal vs Sweden 36:35 (16:16)

Paulo Pereira (POR) — head coach

On the match against Sweden:

“I think it was an amazing game for spectators. I think we suffered a little bit more, but we are thinking about solutions at final whistle a little less than spectators. But it was I think a very good game for our sport. I think Portugal deserve to be between the very good teams because we put a little bit more emotion, a little bit more the romantic part of sport, and I think all sports need these kinds of teams, that have ideas, that have clever people that fight. I think it’s wonderful to see how we play. Sometimes it’s not possible to win for several factors, but I can’t be more happy with this group of people that send very far away the Portugal name and our country, so I think I am very, very proud of these players, these guys.”

On the young team and the future:

“Always that we try to play we try to beat our proper records, our best result. We did it with the World Championship. We did it with the European Championship. And now, what we can say, in the next World Championship, of course, we will play for the medals, because we stay in the fourth place. Our goal, it will be this one. Maybe the result is another one that we don’t want, we don’t like, but it must be our mindset to continue to improve. Some details that we must improve. We have a lot of things to improve. But we will fight for it for sure.”

Luís Frade (POR) – line player

On finishing the tournament with a victory:

“This is the perfect ending for us, we get the best position ever in this championship, the scenario tonight was crazy again. The main round was not the best for us, we lost one game too many and of course, when you only qualify for the placement game, you are not that happy. But I am proud because we managed to focus again in order to deliver tonight.”

On writing history for Portuguese handball:

“Right now, it does not feel like anything, I have been physically dead for the last 20 minutes of the game. But I am sure that, in a few days, we will look at the ranking and tell ourselves that what we did is just, crazy. We have been writing the history of our sport in Portugal for the past few years, and the only thing I can hope for is that we can continue on this road.”

On the final minutes of the game:

“Honestly, I did not feel anything anymore. It was just pure adrenaline. The main round we played was so aggressive that to play one last game felt like a huge task. Even though you prepare for that, it’s still very tough. Of course, you can say that Martim (Costa)’s goal was amazing, and it was, but it was really a teamwork.”

Michael Apelgren (SWE) — Sweden head coach

On the match:

“It was a very tight game all the time. Of course we could have defended a little bit better, but in the end it was small things.”

On the tournament as a whole:

“Of course we are disappointed, we wanted more. I think teams who finish where we are are good enough to also go to the semi-finals. We felt that we were starting the tournament very good, but in the end these small things didn’t go our way, exactly like this last match. It was a little bit symptomatic of this tournament.”

Mikael Appelgren (SWE) – goalkeeper

On the defeat:

“It’s a big disappointment, of course, because everything is decided on one shot and I feel like we had played pretty good before. We would have deserved to play in the overtime, but there was not much we could do on the last action. It is a disappointment, of course, because we would have liked to finish the tournament on a high.”

On the tournament as a whole:

“We would have liked to fight for medals, this was our main goal before the tournament. But I think that we did not play well enough in the main round to get there, especially against Iceland. Playing this placement game was definitely not what we expected. There things to take and things to work on from this championship.”

On the retirement of his goalkeeper teammate Andreas Palicka:

“It would have been cool for him to finish a victory, I am quite disappointed I was not able to help him do that. He is one of the guys who has so much experience that he always helped his teammates, he was not only my teammate but also someone I like as a person. He was a massive worker and an impressive player on the court.”

Photo © kolektiff images

TEXT: European Handball Federation