Czechia down Greece to finish third in group F

In their previous matches, Czechia and Greece suffered clear defeats against both Denmark and Portugal, who meet later Monday in the decisive duel for the first place in the group.

Czech never looked back after taking an opening-minute lead as their physically strong defence prevented Greece from applying their usual fresh attacking approach.

GROUP F

Czechia vs Greece 29:20 (15:8)

• right back Tomas Piroch netted for 2:1 early in the second minute and Czechia remained in the lead for the rest of the match
• Greece stayed close until the 19th minute (7:6) but lost any grip on the match in the last 10 minutes before the beak, allowing Czechia a decisive 7:1 run as right wing Jakub Sterba raised his tally to five first-half goals
• the margin reached its first double-digit figure after six minutes into the second half, when line player Vit Reichl scored to make it 19:9
• Jakub Sterba became top scorer with seven goals as Czechia settled for a 29:20 victory
• Czechia goalkeeper Tomas Mrkva was named the Grundfos Player of the Match, after saving 18 shots for a 54.6 per cent efficiency
• Czechia end their first EHF EURO under coach Xavier Sabate on a positive note, while Greece fail to take points home from their maiden appearance in the event

Czechia show Xavier Sabate’s intentions

When Xavier Sabate was appointed head coach of Czechia in 2022, it was clear in which direction the team would develop. The master tactician in defensive play was going to rebuild the team with a clear emphasis on preventing their opponents from scoring.

Czechia have shown just that at the Men’s EHF EURO 2024. In their opener, they kept Denmark on just 23 goals, but forgot to score more than a record-low 14 themselves. They repeated their defensive masterclass in patches against Portugal. And in the last game, they successfully derailed the Greek attack which had impressed with free-flowing play earlier.