Netherlands clinch late draw; leave Portugal waiting

During the match, Martim Costa and António Areia passed the 50-goal milestone at the EHF EURO and now occupy fourth and fifth position on Portugal’s top five scorers of all time at the event. Remarkably, all of Costa’s goals have been scored at the 2024 edition, while Areia’s are spread across three starting in 2020.

GROUP II

Netherlands vs Portugal 33:33 (17:15)

• following a mostly level match, especially in the final stages, Portugal took the score to 33:31 inside the last two minutes before the Netherlands netted the last two goals to clinch the draw
• the first half either saw a level score on the board or a Dutch lead of one to two goals, with Portugal in front only once at 2:1 in the third minute
• a big first 30 minutes from goalkeeper Diogo Rêma Marques helped keep Portugal close, as he made an astounding 13 saves at 46.4 per cent in that period and earned the Grundfos Player of the Match award
• wing António Areia moved into fourth position on Portugal’s all-time top scorer record at the EHF EURO in the first half. Martim Costa passed him on that list in the second as the two tallied a combined 15 goals, while Luís Frade contributed eight
• the Netherlands opened a three-goal gap as soon as the second half began and held it until 21:18 in the 38th minute, before Portugal fought back to level with 16 minutes to go

Portugal hope for history again 

After their historic sixth place finish in 2020, when they put themselves on the international handball map and secured their best ranking ever in the event, Portugal hope to at least equal that. But the draw against the Netherlands means they rely on Slovenia losing or drawing against Denmark, as a victory for Slovenia would see them pass Portugal and grab the ticket to Cologne.

If Portugal make it to the final weekend, it will be the second time in three editions of the EHF EURO. It would be a relief for the side to be part of the final weekend again, as they have not been able to replicate their success since 2020, although they did make their Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Photos © Kolektiff Images