On the way to the arena it could happen that a hippopotamus and a knight were sitting next door on the tram. Carnival in Cologne is approaching, and all day long people in good spirits, dressed up, rushed to their meetings. The Danish and French handball fans, on the other hand, were dressed in the colors of their national teams, with clear advantages for red and white.
Queen Mary of Denmark sat in the arena and watched the two best handball teams take part in this high-class spectacle. It took extra time to distinguish winners from losers, and in the end it was French cleverness and self-confidence that defeated Denmark 33-31 and were crowned European champions.
Late, very late, France star Dika Mem registered with two goals. That, along with a strong defense, was enough to defeat the ultimately unimaginative Danes. For the French coach Guillaume Gille, it is the fourth European Championship title after 2006, 2010 and 2014. The Danes, coached by Nikolaj Jacobsen, have been waiting for first place in the continental tournament since 2012.
Denmark had mostly led by one or two goals, but at the end of regular time they were too clumsy to successfully put the final behind them. In extra time it was the strong Ludovic Fabregas who brought France forward. He scored eight goals.
The Danes relied too much on the individual class of Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick. They scored 13 goals together, but their strength dwindled after grueling wrestling matches.
Frank Heike, Cologne Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 9 Frank Heike, Cologne Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 13 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5
In France, a team wins this European Championship that remained undefeated throughout the tournament and impressed both collectively and individually without showing the most beautiful handball. However, their entry into the final was only achieved thanks to an unpunished violation of the rules in the semi-final against Sweden.
