GROUP 2
Top scorers: Eliška Desortová (Czechia) 10/16; Emma Friis 6/6, Julie Scaglione 6/8 (both Denmark)
After their 41:25 home win in the reverse fixture, Denmark were once again the favourites on Thursday in Prague - and they showed it from the very start. Their defence, backed by goalkeeper Anna Kristensen, was outstanding, turning turnovers into a series of fast-break goals. By the 23rd minute, the gap had already reached double digits at 13:3 following an 8:0 run, as the hosts went scoreless for almost 15 minutes.
Denmark maintained that advantage until half-time, while Czechia needed 35 minutes to score their 10th goal. After the break, the lead of the EHF EURO 2024 silver medallists remained consistently between nine and 12 goals, with the result long decided. Eliška Desortová scored exactly half of Czechia’s goals.
With a maximum of 10 points, Denmark will play their final match on Sunday against bottom side Türkiye. Czechia remain third with four points, two behind second-placed Hungary. After their 20:31 home defeat in the reverse fixture, they must win in Érd by at least 12 goals to qualify for the final tournament in September.
I’m happy to have had the opportunity to play against such a strong opponent as Denmark today. Now we know what we want and what we need to work on so that one day we can reach their level. The second half was definitely better, but it’s difficult to make up such a big deficit when we didn’t perform well in the first half.
We’re very happy with the result, but we know we can do better. The first half was quite good, but the second was not as strong. In the first half, we supported each other more, while in the second it was more individual play. Now we know what we need to focus on to improve next time.
