European Championship debutants Faroe Islands caused a big surprise at the European Men’s Handball Championship in Germany on Saturday with a 26:26 draw against Norway in Berlin. The “underdog” was 23:26 behind in Pool D in the North Derby with 100 seconds to go, scored the next goal 22 seconds before the final siren and scored “Man of the Match” four seconds before the end to the cheers of the numerous fans on the island. Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu with a seven to equalize.
While the team from the Faroe Islands still has a chance of promotion, the Norwegians were out of line that day. Because all the other favorites achieved clear victories and moved into the main round after two group games. Defending champion Sweden, world champion Denmark and also the Netherlands, Slovenia and Portugal advanced after their second successes.
Sweden defeated newcomers to the finals Georgia 42:26 in Group E and thus moved up, just like the Danes in Pool F thanks to a 40:28 over Greece, which is also there for the first time. The Netherlands scored a clear 36:20 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Sweden group, while Portugal won 30:27 against the Czech Republic in the Denmark pool. Slovenia sent Poland packing 32:25. On Monday there will be direct duels between the Saturday winners in Groups E and F for first place and thus two points for the main round.
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