NOS Sport•
The handball players started the European Championship with a defeat against home country Sweden. In Malmö things were even for the first twenty minutes, but when star player Luc Steins received a red card, the situation broke: 36-31.
Playmaker Steins received the red card after hitting Nikola Roganovic on the hip when the Swede moved cleverly to the left in his counter. The Dutch team therefore had to do without Steins for the rest of the match, and that turned out to be an impossible task.
When he left the game in the 26th minute, the score was still 12-11 for Sweden. However, the halftime score after thirty minutes was already 16-12.
“It’s just a stupid move,” Steins told NOS afterwards. “I shouldn’t give the referees the opportunity to draw a red card. It was a smart move for him to stab in, but I have to be prepared for that. I would have done that in his position too.”
Mopping with the tap open
In the second half, the Netherlands scored much more than in the first half, but it turned out to be a simple matter: the team of national coach Staffan Olsson allowed a lot defensively and found no answer to the many Swedish attacks.
Still, Steins sees many positive points. “The fact that we are conceding so many goals has been our problem for years, but we fight for every ball, do not give up and ultimately keep the difference after the break limited.”
“We are in a group where anyone can beat anyone,” he continues. With Croatia, the Netherlands will meet the vice world champions on Monday at 6 p.m., while Georgia already made it very difficult for the Croats. That match ended 32-29 for Croatia.
