Men's EHF EURO 2026 post-match flash quotes: 15 January
HERNING/OSLO – Comments from players and coaches after matches in groups A and C on day 1 of the Men's EHF EURO 2026.
SPAIN vs SERBIA 29:27 (19:15)
Imanol Garciandia (ESP) – right back
On the match:
"The first game, it's the toughest mentally, and when you have the most pressure because you haven't started. That's why it was so important to get the two points and now it's a great beginning, let's continue with this."
On the performance and room for improvement:
"There are always nerves in the beginning and I didn't think that we had so many lost balls, as we only had two in the first half and I'm not sure about the second half, but we had some missed shots and I think we can maybe fix that. We made a really good job in defence and in attack and how we played, and even though we had some missed shots, we can work with this.”
Dragan Pechmalbec (SRB) – line player
On the defeat:
"I think we lose the game more than they win the game, we made a lot of mistakes. We started the game bad and we let them lead by three, four goals and we fought hard to come back and came really close and we had a goal (chance) to come back at one, but we made mistakes and against Spain you can't make these mistakes because they punish you directly.
“Anyways, it was still not that really bad game for us and we're still alive and we will play a final against Germany in the next game."
On the next match, against Germany:
"I think we played not a really good game and we can do much, much better everywhere on the court in attack, in defence and make more saves and the efficiency in the shot. Now we need to be perfect and to start winning against Germany. This game will be like a final for us."
FRANCE vs CZECHIA 42:28 (20:14)
Guillaume Gille (FRA) – France head coach
On opening with a victory:
“I am satisfied because we won this first game, and it was the first step in this European championship. It’s quite satisfying to see that all the players in the team had the opportunity to play and to play a good game. For a first match in this kind of tournament it’s really important.”
On what he wants to improve:
“A lot of things to improve. The first game in a competition is always something special, so we want to move on step by step and of course try to improve ourselves in the defence, also in the contra-attack and also in attack.
“It’s always the same process. We want to be stronger and stronger day after day, and it’s a daily process for us.”
Aymeric Minne (FRA) – centre back
On the victory:
“It’s always good to start a competition with two points, and to win easily like that gives us a lot of confidence. Of course, nothing was perfect, but we did expect it. We have some time to work we know what we must do better and I am sure that the next game will see an improvement.”
On taking on centre back duties after Nédim Rémili’s absence:
“I am quite satisfied with the way I played. I was prepared, I did it in the preparation already. I tried to play as fast as possible, just the way I like it. We pushed the balls early in the game to take the advantage and make it as big as possible as early.”
Dylan Nahi (FRA) – left wing
On the victory:
“We wanted to show respect to the Czechia team, as they can be really dangerous if we let them play their game. We started strong, managed to keep the pace and to even increase it in the second half. Of course, nothing was perfect but we would have signed beforehand for a 14-goal victory.”
On the room France have for improvement:
“It would not be funny if everything was perfect on day one. We played excellent in phases, not so in others. It’s good, we have a lot of new players, some are playing their first international competition with us, we are still learning as a team. I loved what I saw and the energy we put into that first game.”
Daniel Kubeš (CZE) – Czechia coach
On the match:
“We didn’t manage to get a good start in the game. We were behind a little, and then there were two situations which influenced the result. One was the red card for our pivot (Jan Užek) and then the injury for Tomáš Piroch. Those two situations were very unfortunate for us.”
On what they talked about in their timeouts:
“We want to play offensively, we want our guys to adapt and to push and push and push. That’s what we did, until the gap lengthened.”
Tomáš Mrkva (CZE) – goalkeeper
On the match:
“First of all I want to thank our spectators, they gave us energy all the game, it was incredible.
“I’m proud of the guys, because we were like six goals down but we kept fighting, it was very very good.
“But at the end it was the better quality of team France that was the difference.”
On what they were happy with:
“We were very good in attack, and if we didn’t see mistakes in the defence, then we could be a better team in the game.
“I have to say I like the energy of the team.”
Matěj Nantl (CZE) – line player
On the game:
“We are of course really disappointed, we did not play good, especially in the second half. The start of our game was really bad, and against such a strong team, when you are led by six immediately, it’s hard to recover.”
On their good periods in the game:
“We showed for some minutes that we could play good but against France, you have to play extra good for 60 minutes. We lacked consistency in our performance, and that’s what led us to lose.”
