The Dutch handball players have started the European championship in Denmark with a damper. The team of national coach Emmanuel Mayonnade surprisingly lost to Serbia 29-25 in Kolding. The world champion collapsed completely in the second half. Top scorer on the Dutch side was Danick Snelder with 5 hits.
The first group match at the European Championship for Orange already had a bumpy run-up. Due to corona infections at Serbia, the game was postponed by one day and it was also exciting on Saturday whether the game could continue. The tournament management was able to give the green light after all players of Serbia tested negative in a test round on early Saturday.
The first minutes of play in the empty Sydbank Arena were a bit awkward, but the Dutch team picked up the rhythm surprisingly quickly and gradually distanced itself from Serbia, which gave away a lot of space. The routiners took Orange by the hand. Thanks to hits from Lois Abbingh, Snelder and Laura van der Heijden, the Netherlands led 15-9 at half time. Serbia received an extra blow when Andrea Lekic dropped out, who twisted her knee and had to leave the room on a stretcher. Lekic was voted the best player in the world in 2013.
Painful defeat
The Dutch team seemed to pick up the thread again in the second half and ran to 22-16, but then it suddenly stopped. The team stacked foul on foul and was unable to score for minutes. Serbia, on the other hand, scored seven goals in a row and was suddenly 23-22 ahead. The Orange tried to recover, but even top scorer Lois Abbingh was unable to encourage the team. Almost nothing worked anymore and despite late hits by young talent Bo van Wetering, a painful defeat could no longer be averted.
Abbingh had no explanation for the great decline in the second half. “We had full control of the game for 40 minutes, there was nothing wrong, but a switch in their team caused unrest in the team. It was chaotic, too rushed. ”
“I don’t really know why we collapsed like that. Maybe we were a bit too keen on playing a match, we wanted too much ”, continued Abbingh, top scorer of the tournament last year at the World Cup with 71 hits. She made four against Serbia. “We weren’t able to finish practice matches in the preparation and here we also had to wait a day longer because of the hassle with corona cases in Serbia. Handball is also a mental sport; if you see the opponent coming back into the match like this, fear creeps into the team. We conceded 20 goals in the second half and that just can’t happen. ”
The selection of Mayonade has been given little rest. Croatia will be the next opponent on Sunday. The Netherlands must win that second group match to keep a chance of qualifying for the main round. Abbingh is counting on the team to recover. “Perhaps it is a good thing that we have to get back to work so soon. Can we soon forget this defeat. ” The team won bronze at the European Championship two years ago and even silver four years ago.
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