MUNICH - Comments from Greece head coach Georgios Zaravinas (GRE), left wing Christos Kederis (GRE), Denmark head coach Nikolaj Jacobsen (DEN), line player Magnus Saugstrup (DEN) and left back Michael Damgaard (DEN); and Czechia head coach Xavier Sabate (ESP) and goalkeeper Martin Galia (CZE), and Portugal head coach Paulo Pereira (POR), right back Martim Costa (POR) and right wings Pedro Portela (POR) and António Areia (POR) after Portugal beat Czechia 30:27 and Denmark beat Greece 40:28 at the Olympiahalle München on Saturday.

GREECE VS DENMARK

Georgios Zaravinas (GRE) – head coach

On the loss against Denmark: 
“We gave them a good game, a competitive game that had some good moments, some bad moments. For us it was the first time that we played against this kind of team. Maybe the best team in the world.

"We were excited from the start of the game and before the game. Today we tried to use more players, we put in the field more players than in the first game because we wanted to prepare more and more players as we have the third game and wanted to have everyone ready to try to win some points against Czechia.

“We must be satisfied with our team. We tried to fight, we tried to run, and we didn´t want to stop the rhythm of playing against this team. I think we had some good moments some good periods during the game and in the end I think also today we got some small, small, small things and we will try to do better and better.”

Christos Kederis (GRE) – left wing

On being tournament debutants and playing against the world champions:
“I am little bit empty, when you play a team like Denmark at this level, you must give everything. We scored 28 goals against Denmark – that is one thing we must keep. For our team, we play against better player, against the best team in the world.”

On the tactics against Denmark:
“We spent a lot of time watching video, how to keep them in line, how to go deep, to try destroy them a little bit. We tried a lot, but they are the best team in the world. For my experience, it is very difficult to win such game for us, maybe in the future.”

On the last match against Czechia:
“They have a lot of support from the fans because Czechia is close to Germany. But we need this win, first of all to show we did not come here for vacation, and also to take a better pot in March [for World Championship qualification].”

Nikolaj Jacobsen (DEN) - head coach

On the win against Greece: 
“Greece played a really good game today, especially attack with very good speed. I´m not happy with our defence today but I also need to give Greece some credit for playing some good handball today.

"In the attack, I think we played very well. We made a lot of goals today. We have many players to play, some haven't played yet in this tournament. So I'm very happy with the good win today and actually I think it was a good match from both sides.”

Magnus Saugstrup (DEN) – line player

On winning by 12 goals against Greece:
“We are not completely satisfied with the game. You try to play well but it is hard against an opponent like Greece, because we are clearly the favourites. But of course we are satisfied that we are through.”

On meeting Portugal in the last match of the preliminary round:
“That is a difficult match, the most difficult for us in this group. They have a very good team, a very young team, also. We knew them better [than Greece] but that doesn’t make it easier. They play a higher tempo, more one-against-one, and have good line players. A tough match.”

Michael Damgaard (DEN) – left back

On beating Greece 40:28:
“It was a bit difficult in some moments, but we did a good job from the start. When they came back to 9:7, it was a phase where we showed not enough discipline. It is always hard against such an opponent that you must beat. But we are through, and we have a kind of group final against Portugal coming up.”

On keeping the concentration during a match with a big lead:
“There were a lot of fans in the arena and we can enjoy it to play for 12,000 spectators. We want to show them our best game, and we want to keep improving our form. There is always potential to do better, so I hope we also learn from this match.”

On scoring 10 times and being awarded Player of the Match:
“I was satisfied, for sure. But if we lose against Portugal, it is totally irrelevant what happened against Greece. I have a daughter who is definitely looking forward to seeing my little trophy. I hope I can also show her a gold medal when I got home again.”

CZECHIA vs PORTUGAL

Xavier Sabate (ESP) - head coach, Czechia

On the loss against Portugal:
“They were better than us and in the second 15 minutes of the first half, we did too much wrong. Portugal is a great team with a great coach. They have been working together for a long time. When you don´t play your best level for 15 minutes they break the match.

"In the second half, we tried everything. I have nothing to say to my players. The 6,000 people who support us who came here, it was incredible. It was like playing at home.”

Martin Galia (CZE) – goalkeeper

On the defeat against Portugal:
“The biggest problem was that we missed too many chances and that we made faults over and over again. That has cost us this match. Missing four penalties in one half is a catastrophic quote. This is a pity. But Portugal were better. We have to learn and look to the future.”

On his coming out of retirement:
“Our second goalkeeper was injured before the EURO, so we wanted to make a little surprise for our fans. But this was, 100 per cent sure, my last game for Czechia.”

Paulo Pereira (POR) – head coach (POR)

On the match:
"We are two good teams in this championship. It was really a good fight and final it was for us and we are really happy we reach the main round. And now we still we need to think how we beat the world champions; it's very difficult. We try to think out how to do this against Denmark."

Martim Costa (POR) – right back

On Portugal’s victory and his performance against Czechia:
“I am happy for the team to win the game, that is the most important thing. We need this win to pass to the main round and I think we do an excellent job in the defence, the offence. We do a really good game. And now a complicated game against Denmark, but we are going to play to win.”

On the difference between the first and the second match:
“Game after game we are going to improve. We don’t play together all the year, so we need some games to improve.”

On scoring 11 times and becoming Player of the Match:
“Sometimes you have the day that you are good and everything works and you score a lot of goals. The most important thing is the result, but I am not going to say I don’t want to win this award. Everyone worked together to play really good in this game, so I’m happy with this award.”

On Czechia closing the gap to just three in the end:
“We got a good advantage in the first half, seven goals. We worked with that result all the game, we could control the game good, and we grew as a team. In the end we took it a little bit easy, we are not going to run like crazy in the last two minutes.”

Pedro Portela (POR) – right wing

On the 30:27 win against Czechia:
“We put a lot of intensity in the defence and Czechia couldn’t do nothing as we defended good. We didn’t lose the balls. We were leading by seven for a lot of time, so we took it easy at the end. I am proud of the match we did, but the next match is about two points (to take to the main round).”

On facing Denmark in the last group game:
“It’s a tough match for us. Denmark are favourites, but we will go the match for the win. They are the best team in the world but will try to win.”

António Areia (POR) – right wing

On the improvement from the team compared to the first match:
“The focus for this game was that we could not make the same mistakes and play with the same attitude as in the first half against Greece. This game was life or death, a final for us. When Portugal think like that and play like that, we are hard to beat. The first match was not really Portugal, we did not really fight. It is a team effort and we are really happy how we changed our mindset from the first game.”

On what this victory means for the team:
“We have to be proud of our work. Some people said Portugal can only be a surprise in a negative way this competition. It made us proud that this game we showed how Portugal play and how Portugal can have a beautiful handball, a really intense handball. That is the way we played today, and the way we want to play in the next matches.”