European handball championship 2008

This article describes the European Men's Championship. For the European Women's Championship, see European Women's Handball Championship 2008 .

8th European Men's Handball Championship 2008
Number of nations	16
European champion	Denmark (1st title)
venue	Norway
Opening game	January 17, 2008
Endgame	January 27, 2008
Games	47
Gates	2,643   (∅: 56.23 per game)
Top scorer	Lars Christiansen Denmark Ivano Balić Croatia Nikola Karabatić France 44 goals each
Best player	Nikola Karabatić France (MVP)
←  EM 2006 EM 2010  →

The 8th European Men's Handball Championship was held from January 17th to 27th, 2008 in Norway . 16 teams were qualified for the final round.

Denmark won the tournament by beating Croatia 24:20 in the Lillehammer final . Third place went to the French team , which also provided Nikola Karabatić , the most valuable player of the tournament.

In the end, the German team finished fourth after losing to eventual European champions Denmark in the semifinals, but losing the game for third place significantly against France. The teams from Austria and Switzerland failed already in the qualifying round and the qualifying play-offs.

qualification

Seven teams were directly qualified for the European Championship. Defending champions France , hosts Norway as well as Spain , Denmark , Croatia , Germany and Russia in second to sixth place in the previous European Championship in Switzerland were given a starting place without having to take part in the qualifying round.

Qualifying round

Qualifying games had to be played for the other nine starting places. For the 32 teams interested in participating, the draw for the qualifying round took place in January 2006. First, the 26 unset teams played in seven groups. In the groups of four, the two best teams progressed, in the groups of three only the best team.

Group 1	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Belarus	3	100: 74	6th
Slovakia	3	100: 74	4th
Cyprus	3	71:86	2
Moldova	3	73: 110	0

Group 2	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Serbia	6th	220: 164	9
North Macedonia	6th	185: 179	9
Israel	6th	172: 174	6th
Luxembourg	6th	149: 209	0

Group 3	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Romania	6th	203: 153	12
Latvia	6th	187: 167	8th
Bulgaria	6th	140: 171	2
Georgia	6th	140: 179	2

Group 4	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Montenegro	6th	200: 171	11
Netherlands	6th	186: 186	7th
Austria	6th	183: 178	6th
Finland	6th	165: 199	0

Group 5	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Switzerland	6th	186: 151	12
Lithuania	6th	186: 188	6th
Italy	6th	173: 187	4th
Turkey	6th	167: 186	2

Group 6	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Portugal	4th	115: 94	6th
Greece	4th	107: 98	6th
Estonia	4th	95: 125	0

Group 7	Sp.	Gates	Pt.
Sweden	4th	139: 106	8th
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4th	143: 121	4th
Belgium	4th	109: 164	0

Play-offs

The twelve teams from the qualifying round then played off the nine remaining EM starting positions in the play-offs with the six seeded teams ( Iceland , Poland , Slovenia , Czech Republic , Ukraine and Hungary ). The following games took place:

Match pairing			First leg 9./10. June 2007	Second leg 16./17. June 2007	total
Poland	-	Netherlands	31:20	41:27	72:47
Lithuania	-	Hungary	23:28	30:31	53:59
Ukraine	-	Slovakia	29:28	19:35	48:63
Slovenia	-	Macedonia	33:28	33:32	66:60
Latvia	-	Czech Republic	30:31	26:33	56:64
Belarus	-	Switzerland	33:24	28:30	61:54
Sweden	-	Romania	36:25	33:34	69:59
Portugal	-	Montenegro	28:30	27:33	55:63
Serbia	-	Iceland	30:29	40:42	70:71

Mountains Drammen Lillehammer Stavanger Trondheim

Venues

Attendees

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Croatia	Denmark	Spain	France
Slovenia	Russia	Germany	Iceland
Poland	Norway	Hungary	Slovakia
Czech Republic	Montenegro	Belarus	Sweden

Venues

• Stavanger - Stavanger Idrettshall , 7,000 seats
• Drammen - Drammen hall , 4,200 seats
• Bergen - Haukelandshallen , 4,000 seats
• Trondheim - Trondheim spectrum , 4,200 seats
• Lillehammer - Håkons Hall , 10,000 seats, finals

Preliminary round

In the preliminary round, each team in a group played once against each other team in the same group. The best three teams in each group qualified for the main round, the fourth group eliminated from the tournament.

Group A

Group A played in the Stavanger Idrettshall in Stavanger .

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Pt.
1.	Croatia	3	3	0	0	91:77	+14	6th
2.	Poland	3	2	0	1	93:89	+ 04	4th
3.	Slovenia	3	1	0	2	85:94	- 09	2
4th	Czech Republic	3	0	0	3	88:97	- 09	0

January 17, 2008
18:15	Slovenia	-	Czech Republic	34:32 (16:14)
20:15	Croatia	-	Poland	32:27 (14:14)
January 18, 2008
18:15	Czech Republic	-	Croatia	26:30 (13:13)
20:15	Poland	-	Slovenia	33:27 (23:14)
January 20, 2008
15:15	Poland	-	Czech Republic	33:30 (13:14)
17:15	Croatia	-	Slovenia	29:24 (16:15)

Group A was largely dominated by Olympic champions Croatia. The team around playmaker Ivano Balić won all games with at least four goals difference. After their opening defeat against Croatia, Poland recorded a clear win against Slovenia and also beat the Czech Republic with 33:30. The Slovenes could only win their opening game against the team from the Czech Republic with 34:32 and thus secured their place in the final round. The Czech team was considered an outsider of the group and was eliminated as the bottom of the group.

Group B

Group B played their games in the Drammen hall in Drammen .

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Pt.
1.	Norway	3	3	0	0	86:69	+17	6th
2.	Denmark	3	2	0	1	89:79	+10	4th
3.	Montenegro	3	0	1	2	71:84	-13	1
4th	Russia	3	0	1	2	74:88	-14	1

January 17, 2008
17:00	Russia	-	Montenegro	25:25 (15:16)
19:15	Denmark	-	Norway	26:27 (10:14)
January 18, 2008
18:15	Norway	-	Russia	32:21 (15:10)
20:15	Montenegro	-	Denmark	24:32 (9:18)
January 20, 2008
17:15	Denmark	-	Russia	31:28 (18:11)
19:15	Norway	-	Montenegro	27:22 (16:11)

Group B showed how valuable the home advantage can be in a major tournament, as hosts Norway won all the preliminary round matches. Norway won the opening game just 27:26 against eventual European champions Denmark, but Russia was clearly defeated, and the success against Montenegro was never in danger. As third in the previous World Cup, Denmark recorded a clear 32:24 win in the second game against newcomer Montenegro and also won the last group game against Russia. Montenegro surprised at the start of the tournament with a 25:25 draw against the Russian national team, which had previously been one of the favorites. Since Montenegro and Russia were defeated in the games against Denmark and Norway respectively, the goal difference had to decide on the entry into the main round because of the draw in a direct comparison. Here Montenegro was ahead with one goal in the final score.

Group C

The group C games took place in the Haukelandshallen in Bergen .

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Pt.
1.	Hungary	3	2	0	1	90: 082	+ 08	4th
2.	Spain	3	2	0	1	94: 088	+ 06	4th
3.	Germany	3	2	0	1	84: 080	+ 04	4th
4th	Belarus	3	0	0	3	83: 101	-18	0

January 17, 2008
17:15	Germany	-	Belarus	34:26 (16:13)
19:15	Spain	-	Hungary	28:35 (12:14)
January 19, 2008
18:15	Hungary	-	Germany	24:28 (12:13)
20:15	Belarus	-	Spain	31:36 (15:18)
January 20, 2008
16:30	Spain	-	Germany	30:22 (12:12)
18:30	Hungary	-	Belarus	31:26 (18:16)

In Group C, Hungary started with an unexpected win against Spain 35:28. The second game against world champions Germany was lost after a long open game with 24:28. The success in the last game against Belarus meant the group win for Hungary thanks to the goal difference. Spain beat Belarus in the second group game with 36:31 and finally defeated Germany with 30:22 and was second in the group. World champions Germany started with a win against the inexperienced team from Belarus. Oleg Velyky was seriously injured in the early stages of the game and could no longer be used in the further course of the tournament. Since the second game against Hungary was also successfully designed, Germany qualified for the main round early. The team lost to Spain in the last group game, in which the goalkeeper showed an outstanding performance in the second half of the game. Belarus was treated as an outsider of the group and could only keep up with the opposing teams in all three games in the first half.

Group D

The venue for the Group D games was the Trondheim Spectrum in Trondheim .

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Pt.
1.	France	3	3	0	0	90: 076	+14	6th
2.	Sweden	3	2	0	1	89: 072	+17	4th
3.	Iceland	3	1	0	2	68: 076	- 08	2
4th	Slovakia	3	0	0	3	78: 101	-23	0

January 17, 2008
18:15	France	-	Slovakia	32:31 (20:18)
20:15	Iceland	-	Sweden	19:24 (9:11)
January 19, 2008
18:15	Slovakia	-	Iceland	22:28 (5:16)
20:15	Sweden	-	France	24:28 (13:18)
January 20, 2008
16:15	Slovakia	-	Sweden	25:41 (12:20)
18:15	France	-	Iceland	30:21 (17: 8)

Group D had been rated as the strongest group in advance. Tournament favorites France started after a poor performance with a narrow 33:32 win against Slovakia, which could only convince in this game. France won the other two group matches against Sweden and Iceland. Sweden managed to take revenge for failing in the World Cup qualification in the first match against Iceland. In the last game against Slovakia the Swedes scored the highest victory of the European Championship 2008 with a difference of 16 goals. Iceland was only successful in the second group game against outsiders Slovakia.

Main round

The main round was held from January 22nd to 24th in Stavanger (Group I) and Trondheim (Group II).

In the main round, the three best teams from preliminary round groups A and B played in group I and the three best teams from groups C and D in group II, each team playing against the three teams from the other preliminary round group. The results against the two teams from their own preliminary group were carried over to the main round. The two best teams in each main round group qualified for the semi-finals, the two thirds in the group contest the game for 5th place.

Group I.

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Pt.
1.	Denmark	5	4th	0	1	152: 120	+32	8th
2.	Croatia	5	3	1	1	138: 130	+ 08	7th
3.	Norway	5	2	2	1	130: 128	+ 02	6th
4th	Poland	5	2	1	2	149: 142	+ 07	5
5.	Slovenia	5	2	0	3	138: 148	-10	4th
6th	Montenegro	5	0	0	5	124: 163	-39	0

January 22, 2008
16:15	Slovenia	-	Montenegro	31:29 (16:13)
18:15	Croatia	-	Denmark	20:30 (9:15)
20:15	Poland	-	Norway	24:24 (12:13)
January 23, 2008
16:15	Croatia	-	Montenegro	34:26 (12:13)
18:15	Poland	-	Denmark	26:36 (13:17)
20:15	Slovenia	-	Norway	33:29 (14:13)
January 24, 2008
16:15	Poland	-	Montenegro	39:23 (19:13)
18:15	Slovenia	-	Denmark	23:28 (11:15)
20:15	Croatia	-	Norway	23:23 (10:11)

At the beginning of the main round Denmark defeated Croatia after a strong performance with 30:20. In the second game the Danes defeated Poland with 36:26. In the last duel they defeated Slovenia 28:23 and advanced to the semi-finals as group winners. After their opening defeat against Denmark, Croatia was under pressure and won a victory against Montenegro. The last duel against Norway turned out to be a play-off in which the audience was unconditionally behind the hosts, but Croatia managed to secure a draw 23:23 and made it to the semi-finals. Host Norway separated from Poland in the first game with 24:24. The second game, however, was lost against Slovenia at 29:33, so that Norway was eliminated after the aforementioned draw with Croatians. After Poland got just one point from the first two games against Norway and Denmark, the last game against Montenegro was meaningless despite the clear victory. Slovenia defeated the newcomer Montenegro in the first game and also won the second duel against Norway, which was not expected after the tournament so far. In the last game against Denmark Slovenia would have reached the semi-finals with a win, but lost to the eventual European champions. Montenegro remained without a win in the main round.

Group II

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Pt.
1.	France	5	4th	0	1	140: 126	+14	8th
2.	Germany	5	3	0	2	139: 136	+ 03	6th
3.	Sweden	5	2	1	2	131: 131	± 00	5
4th	Hungary	5	2	1	2	145: 147	- 02nd	5
5.	Spain	5	2	0	3	144: 138	+ 06	4th
6th	Iceland	5	1	0	4th	129: 150	-21	2

January 22, 2008
16:20	Germany	-	Iceland	35:27 (17:12)
18:30	Spain	-	France	27:28 (15:15)
20:30	Hungary	-	Sweden	27:27 (16:14)
January 23, 2008
16:15	Spain	-	Sweden	26:27 (14:13)
18:15	Germany	-	France	23:26 (10:11)
20:15	Hungary	-	Iceland	28:36 (16:16)
January 24, 2008
15:20	Spain	-	Iceland	33:26 (18:15)
17:20	Hungary	-	France	31:28 (15:11)
19:20	Germany	-	Sweden	31:29 (16:18)

France beat Spain in the first game with 28:27 and almost secured the semi-finals. In the second game, the team managed to take revenge against Germany for the lost World Cup semi-finals last year. Only five goals were scored in the first twelve minutes. In the ultimately meaningless final main round match against Hungary, Nikola Karabatić's team lost 28:31. World champions Germany beat Iceland 35:27. After the defeat against France in the second game, Heiner Brand's team had to win against record European champions Sweden in their last encounter, which after a varied course of play was just 31:29. Sweden drew 27:27 in their first match against Hungary. The team continued to improve against Spain and won 27:26. For Spain, the 2005 world champions who would have needed a win to keep their chance at the semi-finals, this meant leaving the tournament. Sweden only achieved the goal in the last few seconds, when Spain acted without a goalkeeper and instead with an additional outfield player in attack. Hungary lost in the second duel against Iceland and then could not move into the semi-finals. Spain ended the tournament with a win in the last and meaningless match against Iceland. Iceland was already eliminated after the opening defeat against Germany and the results of the second main round match day, but showed a committed performance in each of the two remaining games.

Final round

The games of the final round took place on January 26th and 27th in Lillehammer.

The two semi-finals and the game for 5th place took place on January 26th, the 3rd place game and the final took place on January 27th.

The best three teams in the European Championship qualified directly for the 2009 World Handball Championship . However, since Germany as the defending champion and Croatia as the World Cup host reached the semi-finals, participation in the semi-finals and fifth place were enough to qualify for the 2009 World Cup.

The ranks 7 to 16 resulted from the group placements and, unlike in world championships, were not played out individually. The game for 7th place, scheduled for January 27 at 11 a.m., was canceled because it was no longer relevant for the Olympic qualification .

Play for 5th place

January 26, 2008
13:00	Norway	-	Sweden	34:36 n.2V. (30:30, 26:26, 13:15)

Semifinals

January 26, 2008
3:30 p.m.	Croatia	-	France	24:23 (11: 9)
18:00	Denmark	-	Germany	26:25 (10:13)

The first semi-final was played between European champions France and Olympic champions Croatia. After the tournament so far, France was considered the absolute favorite for the title, while Croatia had shown fluctuating performances in the main round. In the game, however, the Croatians around Ivano Balić showed their best tournament performance and won a competitive game with 24:23.

The second semi-final was played between world champions Germany and third place in the World Cup, Denmark. After a changeable game, Germany was able to equalize again shortly before the end. A rapid attack by the Danes was stopped with a foul, so that three seconds before the end Denmark was awarded a seven-meter, which Lars Christiansen converted to 26:25 and Denmark thus secured a place in a European Championship final for the first time.

3rd place match

January 27, 2008
13:30	Germany	-	France	26:36 (9:18)

In the game for third place, defending champions France played against Germany. Several players in the German team were canceled due to injuries. The Germans showed their weakest performance during the tournament and were defeated by the motivated French, after a 14-goal deficit in the meantime with 26:36.

Endgame

January 27, 2008
16:00	Denmark	-	Croatia	24:20 (13:10)

The final was played between Olympic champions Croatia and Denmark. No favorite could be identified in the run-up to the game. Goalkeeper Kasper Hvidt stood out for the Danes and gave the Danes a 13:10 lead at halftime. After an intermediate score of 21:18 for Denmark, the Croatians complained several times about what they felt were incomprehensible referee decisions. Coach Lino Červar was banished to the stands because of repeated protests. Denmark could not be denied victory in the final minutes and celebrated winning the European Championship after a final score of 24:20.

Final score

Pl.	team	Gates	Diff
1.	Denmark	233: 193	+40
2.	Croatia	212: 203	+9
3.	France	231: 207	+24
4th	Germany	224: 224	0
5.	Sweden	208: 190	+18
6th	Norway	196: 185	+11
7th	Poland	182: 172	+10
8th.	Hungary	176: 173	+3
9.	Spain	180: 169	+11
10.	Slovenia	172: 180	-8th
11.	Iceland	157: 172	-15
12.	Montenegro	149: 188	-39
13.	Russia	74:88	-14
14th	Czech Republic	88:97	–9
15th	Belarus	83: 101	-18
16.	Slovakia	78: 101	-23

Goalscorer list

Lars Christiansen

Ivano Balić

space	Surname	country	Games	Gates	Litters	% Litter yield	Ø goals per game
1	Lars Christiansen		7th	44	58	76	6.3
1	Ivano Balić		8th	44	84	52	5.5
1	Nikola Karabatić		8th	44	89	49	5.5
4th	Daniel Narcisse		8th	43	72	60	5.4
5	Get rid of it		8th	41	76	54	5.1
5	Kim Andersson		7th	41	78	53	5.9
7th	Aleš Pajovič		6th	39	70	56	6.5
8th	Karol Bielecki		6th	37	62	60	6.2
9	Holger Glandorf		8th	36	72	50	4.5
10	Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson		6th	34	63	54	5.7
11	Alen Muratović		6th	33	60	55	5.5
11	Frode Hagen		7th	33	69	48	4.7
13	Florian Kehrmann		7th	32	48	67	4.6
14th	Martin Boquist		7th	31	51	61	4.4
14th	Luc Abalo		8th	31	55	56	3.9
14th	Petar Metličić		8th	31	62	50	3.9
14th	Pascal Hens		8th	31	74	42	3.9
18th	Olivier Girault		8th	30th	44	68	3.8
19th	Michael V. Knudsen		8th	28	40	70	3.5
19th	Juanín García		6th	28	43	65	4.7

Source: EHF-Euro.com

Allstar team

Immediately after the final, the following players were recognized for their achievements and elected to the All-Star-Team .

Nikola Karabatić, one of the three top scorers and most valuable players of the 2008 European Championship

position	Surname	country
Goal:	Kasper Hvidt	Denmark
Left winger:	Lars Christiansen	Denmark
Back left:	Daniel Narcisse	France
Back center:	Ivano Balić	Croatia
Back right:	Kim Andersson	Sweden
Right winger:	Florian Kehrmann	Germany
Circle:	Frank Løke	Norway
Best Defender:	Igor Vori	Croatia
Most Valuable Player (MVP):	Nikola Karabatić	France

See also

Statistics group A

• Croatia
• Poland
• Slovenia
• Czech Republic

Statistics group B

• Denmark
• Russia
• Norway
• Montenegro

Statistics group C

• Germany
• Spain
• Hungary
• Belarus

Statistics group D

• France
• Iceland
• Slovakia
• Sweden

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ehf-euro.com, Top Goalscorers - Overall (Top 40) ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Tournament on eurohandball.com