Thanks 26:22 against Croatia – Vienna is calling: Handball players make history at the European Championships – Sport

• In the decisive final group game, the Swiss handball players celebrated a 26:22 victory against Croatia.
• This is enough to finish Group D in second place behind Denmark and move into the main round.
• The Swiss team continues in Vienna on Thursday.

The Swiss handball players achieved something historic at the home European Championships in Basel: Coach Knut Ove Joa’s protégés beat Croatia 26:22 in the all-important group game and are now in the main round of the best 12 teams. No Swiss women’s team had ever achieved this before.

The Swiss gave their coach the best present: Joa celebrated his 48th birthday on match day.

9-goal lead shrinks to 3 goals

As clear as the final result reads, Tuesday wasn’t without some drama. In the 28th minute the Swiss were in the lead 16:7 after a brilliant performance. Croatia had not had a trick up to this point. But as was the case at the start of the European Championship against the Faroe Islands, Switzerland lost the thread after taking a clear lead.

Croatia got within 10:16 at the break. And after almost 5 minutes in the 2nd half it was already 13:16, later even 15:17. But like on Friday, the Swiss were able to turn things around again. The Croatians, who needed a win to advance, never got closer than two goals.

The final seconds then turned into a big show for Switzerland, where a draw would have been enough to advance to the next phase. And with the final siren all the dams broke. The players were celebrated by the enthusiastic fans and danced on the floor.

Perfect start – thanks to Schüpbach and the goal surround

The Joa team started the game optimally. Thanks to three saves from Lea Schüpbach, the hosts quickly took a 3-1 lead. As a result, they really worked themselves into a frenzy and steadily increased their lead. This was largely due to goalie Schüpbach, who was rightly voted the best player after the game.

Schüpbach fended off 6 of the first 10 Croatian throws at their goal. This did something to the players from the Balkans: They then tried to place their throws a little better – out of respect for the TuS Metzingen keeper. This meant that the throws landed in rows against the post and crossbar.

Next game: In Vienna against Germany

The Swiss couldn’t quite maintain their high level after the break. But in the most important game this team ever had to play, they still delivered and deservedly moved into the main round behind Denmark.

This means that the Swiss will travel to Vienna on Wednesday, where they will play the main round in Group II. The opponents are top-class: Norway, Slovenia, Germany and the Netherlands. The game kicks off against the Germans on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.