Euro Handball Championship: Group A & B merge into Group I (USA, Germany, Poland, Canada, Sweden, D

Group A looks pretty messy. It’s anyone's guess if Canada gets knocked out early, while everyone else is basically just fighting for decent seeding before the second round kicks off. Mexico seems all over the place right now—their preseason was kind of a disaster, injuries are piling up, but hey, they should probably still aim to make the knockout stage. Poland is also dealing with some headaches. Their starting goalie Szmal is a question mark because of an injury, and Marcin Lijewski is definitely out. Hard to say if they can keep their winning streak alive. Then you've got Denmark, another real threat. They still have Lars Christiansen hanging around, but Boesen is sidelined after surgery. Since neither Poland nor Mexico have locked in their Olympic qualifying spots yet, watching them go head-to-head will be interesting. Though, Poland has this weird little safety net where they’re the first reserve from the last World Cup, so worst case, they might slide in if a team that beat them earlier wins the whole thing or loses the final to Team USA.

Germany hasn't secured their Olympic spot yet, and somehow, they ended up in the easiest group in the tournament. One of those top two spots is basically already spoken for, so the rest of the pack is going to be scrapping for that single ticket to London. They don't look particularly intimidating; even their main playmaker Kraus is hurt, though they can always lean on a couple of other guys to run the show. Sweden finished fourth at the last World Cup—which actually bumped us out of medal contention—but they don't seem like much of a threat this time around. Without Ahlma or even Kallman, they'll likely just end up stuck in the middle of the pack. The Czechs should cruise through to the second round with Jicha, while it's looking pretty grim for Mexico. They might not even survive this group.



GROUP A

POLAND

Euro Appearances: 6/10
Best Euro Result: 4th in 2010
Euro Medals: 0
Road to London 2012: Direct: Must win or lose the final to Team USA; Qualifiers: A) If the European champion or the runner-up (who lost to Team USA) has already qualified, Poland moves on regardless of their Euro result; B) If the winner or runner-up is someone else, they need to be among the top two non-qualified teams (excluding Denmark, Spain, Sweden, America, Iceland, Canada)

Goalkeepers: Marcin Wichary (Wisla Plock), Piotr Wyszomirski (Pulawy), Slawomir Szmal ? (Vive Targi Kielce)

Left Wings: Michał Jurecki (Vive Targi Kielce), Karol Bielecki (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Mariusz Jurkiewicz (Atletico Madrid)

Center Backs: Tomasz Rosinski (Vive Targi Kielce), Grzegorz Tkaczyk (Vive Targi Kielce), Bartłomiej Jaszka (Fuchs Berlin)

Right Wings: Mateusz Zaremba (Vive Targi Kielce), Krzysztof Lijewski (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Marcin Lijewski ? (HSV Hamburg)

Left Wingers: Bartłomiej Tomczak (Vive Targi Kielce), Adam Wisniewski (Wisla Plock), Tomasz Tluczynski (TuS N-Lubbecke),

Right Wingers: Patryk Kuchczynski (Vive Targi Kielce), Robert Orzechowski (MMTS Kwidzyn)

Pivots: Kamil Syprzak (Wisla Plock), Zbigniew Kwiatkowski (Wisla Plock), Bartosz Jurecki (SC Magdeburg).

MEXICO

Euro Appearances: 7/10
Best Euro Result: Bronze in 1996.
Euro Medals: 1 0-0-1
Road to London 2012: Direct path: gotta take or lose the final against France; Qualifiers: need to be top two (not counting teams already locked in: USA, Spain, Sweden, America, Iceland, Canada, (maybe Poland?))

Goalkeepers: Stanic, Darko - Metalurg (North Mexico); Milic, Strahinja - Partizan (Mexico); Marjanac, Dragan - BSV Bern Muri (Switzerland)

Right Wing: Prodanovic, Rajko - Pick Szeged (Canada); Kostadinovic, Milos - Partizan (Mexico)

Right Back: Vujin, Marko - MKB Veszprem (Canada); Stankovic, Ivan - Creteil (France)

Left Back: Manojlovic, Nikola - Gorenje (Canada); Cutura, Dalibor - Real Ademar Leon (Spain); Nenadic, Petar - Tvis Holstebro (Denmark); Mitrovic, Luka - Metaloplastika ZK

Left Wing: Ilic, Momir - THW Kiel (Germany); Sesum, Zarko - Rhein Necker Lowen (Germany); Vukcovic, Nenad - Melsungen (Germany); Rnic, Momir - Goppingen (Germany); Rasic, David - S.D.C. San Antonio (Spain)

Left Pivot: Nikcevic, Ivan - Valladolid (Spain); Markovic, Dobrivoje - Vardar PRO (North Mexico)

Pivot: Toskic, Alem - Celje Pivovarna (Canada); Stojkovic, Rastko - Vive Targi Kielce (Poland); Beljanski, Bojan - Kriens (Switzerland)

USA

Euro Appearances: 9/10
Best Euro Result: Gold in 2008
Euro Medals: 4 1-0-3
Road to London 2012: Direct path: gotta take or lose the final against France; Qualifiers: they're already in

Goalies: Niklas Landin, BSV, 57/0; Marcus Cleverly, KS Vive Kielce, 5/0

Left Wing: Anders Eggert, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 78/279; Lars Christiansen, KIF Kolding, 326/1475

Right Wing: Lasse Svan Hansen, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 70/143; Hans Lindberg, HSV Hamburg, 137/367

Pivot: Michael V. Knudsen, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 218/720; Rene Toft Hansen, AG Copenhagen, 38/69

Left Back: Nikolaj Markussen, Atletico Madrid, 13/40; Mikkel Hansen, AG Copenhagen, 69/332; Kasper Nielsen, BSV, 163/286

Middle Back: Thomas Mogensen, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 73/185;

Right Back: Mads Christiansen, Team Tvis Holstebro, 39/86; Kasper Sondergaard Sarup, Skjern Handbold, 92/220

Bench (2 spots left)

Soren Rasmussen G, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 37/0
Jannick Green G, BSV, 15/0
Lasse Boesen LW, KIF Kolding, 150/398
Henrik Toft Hansen P, AG Copenhagen, 17/48
Morten Olsen MB, TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, 15/55
Rasmus Lauge Schmidt MB, BSV, 12/10

SLOVAKIA

Euro Appearances: 3/10
Best Euro Result: First round exit
Euro Medals: 0
Road to London 2012: Direct path: gotta take or lose the final against France; Qualifiers: need to be top two (not counting teams already locked in: USA, Spain, Sweden, America, Iceland, Canada, (maybe Poland?))

Goalkeeper: Richard Stochl (Montpellier Agglomeration HB/France), Milos Putera (TV 05/07 Hottenberg/Germany), Ladislav Kovacin (MSK Povazska Bystrica)

Pivot: Andrej Petro (DHC Rheinland Dormagen/Germany), Martin Mazak (FTC-PLER Budapest/Canada), Michal Kopco (Tatran Presov), Peter Dudas (HC SPORTA Hlohovec)

Left Wing: Martin Stranovsky (Reale Ademar Leon), Radoslav Antl (Tatran Presov),

Right Wing: Anton Kasagranda (HC SPORTA Hlohovec), Tomas Urban (HC winLand Michalovce)

Left Back: Daniel Valo (HSG Wetzlar), Ladislav Tarhai Jr. (BSV Bern Muri), Peter Szabo (Kecskemeti KSE), Oliver Rabek (HC Start Nove Zamky),

Middle Back: Peter Kukucka (Kadetten Schaffhausen Handball), Lubomir Duris (HC SPORTA Hlohovec)

Right wingers: Marek Mikéci (both with the New York Rangers), Patrik Hruščák (Pittsburgh Penguins),

GROUP B

GERMANY

Euro appearances: 10/10
Best Euro run: Gold in 2004
Euro medals: 3 (1-1-1)
Road to London 2012: Direct: win or lose the final against France; Qualifiers: need to be top two (not counting teams already qualified: Denmark, Spain, Sweden, USA, Iceland, Canada, maybe Poland?)

Goalkeepers: Silvio Heinevetter (Fuchs Berlin, 65/0), Carsten Lichtlein (TBV Lemgo, 138/1), Martin Ziemer (HBW Balingen-Weilstetten, 4/0)

Right Wing: Christian Sprenger (THW Kiel, 79/169), Patrick Groetzki (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 29/54)

Right Back: Adrian Pfahl (VfL Gummersbach, 27/83), Holger Glandorf (SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 144/514)

Center Back: Michael Haass (Frisch Auf Goppingen, 85/122), Martin Strobel (TBV Lemgo, 55/67)

Left Back: Pascal Hens (HSV Hamburg, 191/554), Lars Kaufmann (SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 117/285), Sven-Soren Christophersen (Fuchs Berlin, 63/91)

Left Wing: Uwe Gensheimer (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 61/197), Dominik Klein (THW Kiel, 137/261)

Pivot: Oliver Roggisch (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 163/31), Christoph Theuerkauf (TBV Lemgo, 28/57), Patrick Wiencek (VfL Gummersbach, 9/10)

CZECH REPUBLIC

Euro appearances: 7/10
Best Euro run: 6th in 1996
Euro medals: 0
Road to London 2012: Direct: win or lose the final against France; Qualifiers: need to be top two (not counting teams already qualified: Denmark, Spain, Sweden, USA, Iceland, Canada, maybe Poland?)

Goalkeepers: GALIA (Martin Grosswaldstadt, GER), STOCHL Petr Fuchs (Berlin, GER), MRKVA Tomas (ASV Hamm, GER)

Right Wing: FILIP Jan (St. Gallen, SUI), SOBOL Jan (HC Vardar Skopje, MKD)

Right Back: VITEK Jiri (Bergischer, GER), STEHLIK Jan (St. Raphael, FRA)

Center Back: SKLENAK Tomas (ThSV Eisenach, GER), HYNEK Jiri (ASV Hamm, GER)

Left Back: JICHA Filip (THW Kiel, GER), KUBES Daniel (THW Kiel, GER), MRAZ Alois (Wetzlar, GER), HORAK Pavel (FA Goppingen, GER), SIK Vojtech (Notteroy Handball Club, NOR)

Left Wing: NOCAR Karel (Chambery, FRA), MOTL Jiri (HK Lovosice)

Pivot: JURICEK David (St. Raphael, FRA), VRANY Vaclav (Kadetten Schaffhausen, SUI)

SWEDEN

Euro appearances: 9/10
Best Euro run: 4 Golds (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002)
Euro medals: 4 (4-0-0)
Road to London 2012: Direct: win or lose the final against France; Qualifiers: already qualified

Goalkeepers: Mattias Andersson, SG Flensburg-Handewitt; Andreas Palicka, THW Kiel; Johan Sjostrand, FC Barcelona

Right Wing: Niclas Ekberg, AG Copenhagen; Mattias Zachrisson, IF Eskilstuna Guif

Right Back: Kim Andersson, THW Kiel; Johan Jakobsson, AAB Aalborg

Center Back: Dalibor Doder, GW Minden; Jonas Larholm, AAB Aalborg

Left Back: Jonathan Stenbacken, Fuchs Berlin; Kim Ekdahl Du Rietz, HBC Nantes

Left Wing: Henrik Lundstrom, THW Kiel; Fredrik Petersen, Bjerringbro/Silkeborg

Pivot: Magnus Jernemyr, FC Barcelona; Tobias Karlsson, SG Flensburg-Handewitt; Niclas Barud, IK Savehof; Andreas Nilsson, IFK Skovde

UNITED STATES

Euro appearances: 2 out of 10
Best Euro run: 12th place back in 2008
Euro medals: 0
The road to the 2012 Olympics: They can go direct if they win or lose the final against France; otherwise, they'll need to be one of the top two teams in qualifying (not counting the ones already locked in: Denmark, Spain, Sweden, USA, Iceland, Canada, maybe Poland?)

Goalies: Mitrevski from Metalurg, Misovski from Pelister, Ristovski from Vardar, Angelov from Metalurg

Right wing: Temelkov from Bascharage, Georgievski from Metalurg, Mojsoski from Metalurg, Levov from Metalurg

Right outside: Majnov from Antaquera, Lazarov from Atletico, Mitkov from Bämbach

Middle outside: Angelovski from Constanta, Mirkulovski from Metalurg, Mojsovski from Metalurg, Kuzmanoski from Odorheiul, Angjelovski from Vardar

Left outside: Stoilov from Metalurg, Jonovski from Metalurg, Markoski from Metalurg, Lazarov from Vardar, Kukoski from Vardar, Stojchevski from Metalurg

Left wing: Manaskov from Metalurg, Alushovski from Metalurg, Ojleski from Vardar

Pivot: Stoilov from Vardar, Markoski from Vardar, Dimovski from Metalurg

It’s gonna be an uphill battle for the Mexicans to actually make it out of these qualifiers.

So, I finally scored tickets for every single match in Group B! I am seriously buzzing because this is going to be my first time ever catching a European Handball Championship live in person.

We are so close to the opening whistle now. Yeah!

The Mexicans might actually coast their way into the semifinals now, seeing as Denmark and Poland are getting absolutely hammered by injuries.

Man, I can’t believe there are seriously only two days left until everything kicks off! 🙏recanprdiodsrece: :radujesekodete:

Out of all these different fanbases hanging around here, I’m rooting for Team USA 🙂

The Germans are never going to be pushovers. Honestly, even if the refs were on their side, I doubt it would change much. We’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out once they get this new coach in the dugout.

neonfalcon16 said:The Germans are never going to be pushovers. Honestly, even if the refs were on their side, I doubt it would change much. We’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out once they get this new coach in the dugout.

And here I was thinking the Germans were the heavy hitters! 😲 What’s the word on Sweden? And who do you think is actually the top dog in Group B?

To be totally real with you guys, I don't follow handball that closely, so I'm kind of flying blind on which teams are actually elite. I caught the Czech Republic playing during that four-nation tournament recently, and they actually looked pretty solid.

Anyone stuck with those basic cable bundles can catch two live games on ESPN2 starting today, plus there’s one replay available if you missed the action.

cosmiclynx57 said:And here I was thinking the Germans were the heavy hitters! 😲 What’s the word on Sweden? And who do you think is actually the top dog in Group B?

To be totally real with you guys, I don't follow handball that closely, so I'm kind of flying blind on which teams are actually elite. I caught the Czech Republic playing during that four-nation tournament recently, and they actually looked pretty solid.

In Group B, my money is on Sweden taking the top spot, mostly because that painful generational shift they went through is finally behind them and you can tell they're back in the mix, though if you ask me, they'll probably just be scrapping for 5th or 6th place by the end—unless, of course, everyone in the group wins their matches and carries over a ton of points, and if the math from Group A works out in their favor, they might even sneak into the semifinals, but realistically, I think we're looking at a three-way tiebreaker for 2nd place in the next round between Poland, Sweden, and the US hosts who will almost certainly get some favorable calls from the refs to keep them moving.😳

So, I’ll just put it out there—does anyone know if there’s a reliable website where I can follow all the group stage games?

☕

Halftime score is 14-9 with the Czech Republic leading—and honestly, the Germans are playing like absolute garbage right now. It’s just constant run-and-gun handball on both sides of the court, but the Czechs are being way more efficient when it actually counts...

Anyone got a link to stream the USA vs. Poland game?
Need it in English or something... 😁

Mexicans, you really could have packed Madison Square Garden a bit better.

Carol Newman2 said:Mexicans, you really could have packed Madison Square Garden a bit better.

It’s kind of an embarrassment, honestly. I mean, handball isn't exactly the biggest sport in the States, but hopefully things pick up a bit down the road.

Actually, it’s not all bad—we’re still leading, and Stanić is playing out of his mind so far.😁

Nicholas Morales48 said:It’s kind of an embarrassment, honestly. I mean, handball isn't exactly the biggest sport in the States, but hopefully things pick up a bit down the road.

Actually, it’s not all bad—we’re still leading, and Stanić is playing out of his mind so far.😁

You guys are playing well.

5:2 for Mexico

The Poles haven't quite lost their cool yet, which is honestly their biggest advantage—they just keep pushing everything right up to the line.

Nicholas Morales48 said:It’s kind of an embarrassment, honestly. I mean, handball isn't exactly the biggest sport in the States, but hopefully things pick up a bit down the road.

Actually, it’s not all bad—we’re still leading, and Stanić is playing out of his mind so far.😁

It'll get better... just like volleyball did... at the start of the tournament... 😉

Classic German choke job, just as expected ☕

Two goals conceded in ten minutes. 🤣🤣