Hosts make their mark on opening day of Men’s 18 EHF EURO

The opening round of matches at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO provided little in the way of surprise, except perhaps how dominant hosts Croatia were in their 16-goal win over Portugal.

With the score at 15:11 by half-time, few would have expected to see Croatia ease to the two points quite like they did. Goalkeeper Stipe Puric and nine goals from Mateo Maras played a big part in the 37:21 victory, which sees Croatia alone at the top of Group A, after Serbia and Israel played out a 25:25 draw.

There was very little to choose between the four sides in Group B, but Denmark and France emerged with the two points.

France and Norway found themselves in a roller-coaster of a match, which saw Norway hold a 25:23 lead late in the second half, before a three-goal run inspired France to a 30:29 win.

Denmark also found themselves trailing at points of a low-scoring second half against Romania, but held their nerve to claim a 24:22 victory.

Low scoring was the order of the day in Group C as Germany ground out a 21:20 success over Russia, lead by five goals from Juri Knorr.

It was Hungarian goalkeeper Kristof Györi who made the difference as he helped restrict Spain to under 20 goals, while Bence Balint fired in eight goals in a 22:19 Hungarian win.

Sweden got their campaign off to an impressive start, with a 29:21 win over Slovenia in Group D. EHF Player of the Month in July/August 2017, Ludvig Hallbäck was the outstanding scorer for the Swedes with eight goals.

It was a battle of the goalkeepers between Iceland and Poland as both Viktor Gisli Hallgrimsson and Pawel Paterek were awarded their team’s player of the match.

However, it was Hallgrimsson and Iceland, backed by a nine-goal haul from Dagur Gautason, who came out on top 25:20.

Follow the Men’s 18 EHF EURO

Official website: https://m18euro2018.com/
Playing schedule: http://www.eurohandball.com/ech/18/men/2018/round/1/Final+Tournament
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