The Swiss have done it, thanks to a 26:22 at the home handball European Championship, they are in the main round of a final tournament for the first time – they are now heading to Vienna. But it was a lot of hard work that coach Knut Ove Joa’s team had to deliver against Croatia.
The Nati players knew that a draw would be enough to advance. But it would have been negligent to speculate on that. So the national team went into the game with concentration, goalie Lea Schüpbach was wide awake and parried the Croatians’ first three shots, Switzerland led 2-0.
But the Croatians came back to 5:5. The Swiss then started a spurt and moved ahead to 11:5; the atmosphere in the St. Jakob Hall was electric. When the score was 15:6, Schüpbach had already made eight saves, what a record. At the break it was 16:10 for the hosts.
Croatia started better in the second half and got within 13:16, when coach Joa called a time-out. The Swiss played better again from then on, but it was a different game, the Croatians had found their way back. But it was enough for Switzerland, even if things got exciting again in the meantime. Now it’s in Vienna against Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Germany.
In the Swiss team’s second European Championship game, which they lost 30:35 to Denmark, Federal Councilor Viola Amherd was present and observed the action. In an interview with SRF, the VBS chairwoman was enthusiastic about the presentation of the handball players: “It’s a great atmosphere in this cauldron. It’s a great calling card for our country.”
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