HERNING – Comments from players and coaches after matches in Men's EHF EURO 2026 main round group I on Thursday.

GERMANY vs PORTUGAL 32:30 (11:11)

Johannes Golla (GER) – line player

On the match:

“The first half was very mixed; we didn’t really get into the game, made a lot of technical mistakes and missed several shots. We can thank Andi (Wolff), and we were fortunate that the Portuguese didn’t have one of their best days, so we went into the break with a draw.

“In the second half it was a battle for every single goal. We can be very pleased with the performances of Miro (Schluroff), Renars (Uščins) and Nils (Lichtlein), who all played very well. On top of that, we have a deep squad with a lot of quality. It was tight right until the end, but it was a deserved victory.”

On his red card:

“Firstly, I trusted the others to see the win through, and secondly, it was frustrating. Nobody intends to hit an opponent in the face; it wasn’t an extremely hard contact. But once the video review was called, you could more or less anticipate the decision. There’s no point in overthinking it or arguing about it. The boys managed to bring it home successfully.”

On the next opponents, Norway:

“I haven’t seen much of Norway yet, but I have the impression that they are in better shape than at recent tournaments, where they fell short of their own expectations. They’ve played well now, and it will be an evenly matched game. We’ll need to start better than we did against Portugal so that we don’t have to rely on Andi (Wolff) until the very end. I’m expecting a close match.”

Martim Costa (POR) – left back

On the match:

“I am proud of my team. Our line player (Victor Iturizza) did not play this match, I can’t understand this decision, why he was out. But it is how it is. We were a bit tired in our legs in the first half.

“Today’s difference was (Andreas) Wolff, who saved so many shots. He is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, so our efficiency was very low. We showed an amazing game, but in the last two days some strange things happened, which I don’t understand. But it is not my job to talk about this. We don’t have to say any excuses for the defeat.”

On the next opponents, France:

“Right now, we are tired and need to recover. Against France, we have to do our job in defence, get many chances in attack. But mainly we need to defend like in the first half against Germany and the whole match against Denmark. We want to win and we will do everything. France are one of the best teams in the world, with a lot of speed, counterattacks  and a strong defence. It will be a match with high speed.”

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