OSLO – Comments from players and coaches from media calls at the Men's EHF EURO 2026.

CZECHIA

Daniel Kubeš (CZE) – Czechia head coach

On bouncing back after losing by 14 goals against France:

“It’s not easier to put ourselves back just because we lost badly. We try to forget about the loss, take the negatives to change it, but we also want to keep the positives. We scored 28 goals against one of the best teams in the world, the second part of the first half was really good as well, so was our seven-against-six system.”

On the pressure his young players could have felt playing their first EHF EURO:

“That might explain why we took those six goals right away, from the start. We started with some young players and maybe they got impressed, I don’t know. I am sure that now they have played their first game, they can only improve.”

On the game he expects against Norway:

“A tough one, of course. They play really fast, they have really good players. I think that we have to remain in the game for as long as possible if we want to upset them. That was the plan against France as well, but we did not manage to do it. If you lose by six right away, it’s hard to come back. We have to be better in this part of the game.”

Jan Hrdlička (CZE) – goalkeeper

On the game against France on Thursday:

“It was tough of course, our game plan did not work as we wanted. Not everything has to be thrown to the bin, though, there are things that we are satisfied with. From time to time, we managed to play very well and to show good stuff. But when you play against some of the best players in the world, of course, you really have to keep up with the pace.”

On the opportunity the Czech players have to play at the EHF EURO:

“When you play France, you play against some of the best in the world, and maybe some of us did not expect this level of preciseness. It is a huge step for some of the young players in our team, even though we had warned them about all of this. Being here and playing this competition is a great opportunity to gain experience and to improve.”

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