2012 European Men's Handball Championship

2012 EHF European Men's Handball Championship

Европско првенство у рукомету 2012
EHF Euro 2012 official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Serbia
Venue(s)	5 (in 4 host cities)
Dates	15–29 January 2012
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Denmark (2nd title)
Runner-up	Serbia
Third place	Croatia
Fourth place	Spain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	47
Goals scored	2,508 (53.36 per match)
Attendance	302,688 (6,440 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Kiril Lazarov  (MKD) (61 goals)
Best player	Momir Ilić  (SRB)
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Countries that qualified for the championship

The 2012 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the tenth edition of the men's continental handball tournament, which was held in Serbia between 15 and 29 January 2012. Sixteen teams qualified for the event, including host nation Serbia, defending champion France and fourteen national teams through the qualifying tournament. The teams were split into four groups of 4, with the top 3 teams of each group advancing to the main round, carrying the points won against other qualified opponents. Going to the main round with no points, Denmark ended up winning the championship after defeating Serbia in the final with a scoreline of 21–19. ^[1]

The bronze medal was claimed by Croatia, who defeated Spain 31–27 to win their second bronze and fourth European medal overall. ^[2] In the placement match for the 5th position Macedonia proved to be too strong for Slovenia and won the match by 28–27. Macedonian right back Kiril Lazarov led his team with 8 goals to success and took the top scorers' award with a European Championship record of 61 goals. ^[3] Over 300,000 spectators were present in 47 matches during the tournament, which was also a new championship record. ^[1]

By winning the European title, Denmark directly qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, while Serbia and Macedonia secured a spot in the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Thanks to the Danish triumph, Poland also made it to the qualifiers as the eighth ranked team of the 2011 World Championship. ^[4]

Denmark, Serbia and Croatia as three best-ranked teams qualified directly for 2013 World Men's Handball Championship.

The championship was somewhat overshadowed by incidents that occurred during the final week of the event. On 26–27 January, in violent attacks, cars were damaged or set on fire, and several Croatian supporters were injured. In the semifinal match between Serbia and Croatia, Žarko Šešum, the back player of the Serbian team had his eye severely injured after a bottle intended for Croatian player Ivano Balić and coach Slavko Goluža was thrown at him. ^[5]

Bidding process

The bids were as follows:

• France
• Germany
• Serbia

Serbia was awarded the championship on the EHF Congress in Vienna 27 September 2008, narrowly defeating the French bid by three votes. Serbia would host the tournament in the cities of Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad and Vršac.

Voting results

Country
	Votes
Serbia	26
France	23
Germany	-
Total	49

Qualification

Main article: 2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification

The 2012 Championship was the second for which the new qualification system was used.

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Date qualification was secured	Previous appearances in tournament 1
Serbia	00Host	0027 September 2008	10 ( 2010)
France	00Defending Champion	0031 January 2010	92 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 , 2008, 2010 )
Hungary	00 Group 1 winner	0013 March 2011	70 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Croatia	00 Group 2 winner	0013 March 2011	90 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Sweden	00 Group 4 winner	008 June 2011	80 ( 1994 , 1996, 1998 , 2000 , 2002 , 2004, 2008, 2010)
Denmark	00 Group 7 winner	008 June 2011	80 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 , 2010)
Russia	00 Group 7 runner-up	008 June 2011	90 (1994, 1996 , 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Norway	00 Group 6 winner	008 June 2011	40 (2000, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Germany	00 Group 5 winner	008 June 2011	90 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 , 2006, 2008, 2010)
Slovakia	00 Group 4 runner-up	009 June 2011	20 (2006, 2008)
Spain	00 Group 2 runner-up	009 June 2011	90 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Czech Republic	00 Group 6 runner-up	0011 June 2011	60 (1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010)
Macedonia	00 Group 1 runner-up	0012 June 2011	10 (1998)
Poland	00 Group 3 winner	0012 June 2011	50 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Slovenia	00 Group 3 runner-up	0012 June 2011	80 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Iceland	00 Group 5 runner-up	0012 June 2011	60 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)

¹Bold indicates champion for that year

Squads

Main article: 2012 European Men's Handball Championship squads

Venues

Preliminary round
Belgrade	Novi Sad	Vršac	Niš
Pionir Hall Capacity: 8,150	SPENS Capacity: 11,500	Millennium Center Capacity: 5,000	Čair Sports Center Capacity: 5,000
Knockout stage		Belgrade (2) Vršac Novi Sad Niš
Belgrade
Belgrade Arena Capacity: 20,000

• Source: Serbian Handball Federation: Euro 2010 ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}

Audience

• 
  Belgrade Arena.

• 
  Маscot Tasa (eagle) with Macedonian fan in Belgrade Arena
• 
  Serbian and Macedonian fans in Belgrade Arena
• Serbian and Macedonian fans in Belgrade Arena, Serbia vs Germany
• Macedonian fans in Belgrade Arena.

Referees

On 12 September 2011, 12 couples were announced in Vienna. ^[6]

Country	Referees
Czech Republic	Václav Horáček Jiří Novotný
Denmark	Per Olesen Lars Ejby Pedersen
France	Nordine Lazaar Laurent Reveret
Germany	Lars Geipel Marcus Helbig
Iceland	Hlynur Leifsson Anton Pálsson
Macedonia	Slave Nikolov Gjorgi Nachevski
Norway	Kenneth Abrahamsen Arne Kristiansen
Romania	Sorin-Laurențiu Dinu Constantin Din
Russia	Yevgeniy Zotin Nikolay Volodkov
Serbia	Nenad Nikolić Dušan Stojković
Slovenia	Nenad Krstić Peter Ljubič
Spain	Óscar Raluy Ángel Sabroso

List of broadcasters

Country	Broadcaster
Bosnia and Herzegovina	BHRT
Croatia	HRT2
Czech Republic	ČT4
Denmark	TV2
France	Canal+ Sport Sport+
Germany	Sport1 Das Erste ZDF
Hungary	MTV Sport1
Iceland	RÚV
Macedonia	Sitel Sitel 3
Norway	TV2
Poland	TVP2 TVP Sport TVP HD
Portugal	Sport TV
Romania	Dolce Sport TVR2
Russia	Channel One
Serbia	RTS
Slovakia	Dvojka
Slovenia	RTV2
Spain	Teledeporte
Sweden	TV4 Sjuan
Turkey	Sports TV

Seeding

The draw was held on 15 June 2011 in Belgrade at 12:00 local time. ^{[7] [8]} The seeding was announced on 13 June 2011. ^[9]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
France   Croatia (assigned to D1)   Germany   Poland	Denmark   Norway   Hungary (assigned to C2)   Sweden	Serbia (assigned to A3)   Iceland   Spain   Czech Republic	Slovenia   Russia   Macedonia (assigned to B4)   Slovakia

Group stage

The match schedule was released and confirmed on 18 April 2011. ^[10] Four teams were selected to play in the four venue cities, Serbia in Belgrade, Macedonia at Niš, Hungary at Novi Sad and Croatia in Vršac. ^[11] The playing schedule was announced on 1 July. ^{[12] [13]}

All times are UTC+1.

Team advanced to the Main Round

Group A

Venue: Pionir Hall, Belgrade

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Serbia	3	2	1	0	67	61	+6	5
Poland	3	2	0	1	86	72	+14	4
Denmark	3	1	0	2	78	76	+2	2
Slovakia	3	0	1	2	70	92	−22	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

15 January 2012 18:15	Poland	18–22	Serbia	Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Raluy, Sabroso (ESP)
	Bielecki 4	(7–11)	Vujin, Nikčević 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

---

15 January 2012 20:15	Denmark	30–25	Slovakia	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Zotin, Volodkov (RUS)
	Lindberg 7	(15–12)	Valo 6
	3× 4×	Report	2× 2×

---

17 January 2012 18:15	Slovakia	24–41	Poland	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Kukučka 5	(13–17)	Tkaczyk 8
	3× 5× 1×	Report	3× 3×

---

17 January 2012 20:15	Serbia	24–22	Denmark	Attendance: 8,100 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Ilić 8	(10–12)	Christiansen, Hansen 4
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

---

19 January 2012 18:15	Poland	27–26	Denmark	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Leifsson, Pálsson (ISL)
	Tkaczyk 7	(10–14)	Mogensen 4
	3× 5×	Report	3× 5×

---

19 January 2012 20:15	Serbia	21–21	Slovakia	Attendance: 4,900 Referees: Zotin, Volodkov (RUS)
	Prodanović 5	(13–6)	three players 4
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

Group B

Venue: Čair Sports Center, Niš

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	3	2	0	1	77	74	+3	4
Macedonia	3	1	1	1	76	71	+5	3
Sweden	3	1	1	1	83	84	−1	3
Czech Republic	3	1	0	2	77	84	−7	2

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

15 January 2012 17:20	Germany	24–27	Czech Republic	Attendance: 3,800 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Kaufmann 5	(9–14)	Jícha 7
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

---

15 January 2012 19:30	Sweden	26–26	Macedonia	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Ekberg 6	(14–13)	Aluševski, Lazarov 7
	3× 6×	Report	3× 6×

---

17 January 2012 18:15	Macedonia	23–24	Germany	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Leifsson, Pálsson (ISL)
	Lazarov 7	(12–12)	Kaufmann 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 7× 1×

---

17 January 2012 20:15	Czech Republic	29–33	Sweden	Attendance: 2,050 Referees: Raluy, Sabroso (ESP)
	Jícha 7	(17–19)	Ekberg 10
	3× 4×	Report	4× 6×

---

19 January 2012 18:15	Germany	29–24	Sweden	Attendance: 2,800 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Gensheimer 9	(20–15)	Ekdahl du Rietz 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 2×

---

19 January 2012 20:15	Czech Republic	21–27	Macedonia	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Jícha, Horák 5	(12–12)	Lazarov 7
	3× 6×	Report	2× 3×

Group C

Venue: Spens Sports Center, Novi Sad

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	3	2	1	0	83	77	+6	5
Hungary	3	1	2	0	81	78	+3	4
France	3	1	0	2	77	79	−2	2
Russia	3	0	1	2	82	89	−7	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

16 January 2012 18:15	France	26–29	Spain	Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Dinu, Din (ROU)
	Fernandez 7	(13–15)	three players 4
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

---

16 January 2012 20:15	Hungary	31–31	Russia	Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Császár 8	(19–19)	Chipurin 5
	3× 6×	Report	3× 7×

---

18 January 2012 18:15	Russia	24–28	France	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
	Chipurin 7	(11–16)	Narcisse 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 1×

---

18 January 2012 20:15	Spain	24–24	Hungary	Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Cañellas 6	(11–12)	Császár, Mocsai 7
	3×	Report	4× 5× 1×

---

20 January 2012 18:15	Spain	30–27	Russia	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	García Parrondo 6	(17–11)	Igropulo 8
	3× 3×	Report	4× 4× 1×

---

20 January 2012 20:15	France	23–26	Hungary	Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Nikolov, Nachevski (MKD)
	Barachet 5	(14–12)	Zubai 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

Group D

Venue: Millennium Centar, Vršac

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Croatia	3	3	0	0	88	78	+10	6
Slovenia	3	1	0	2	90	91	−1	2
Iceland	3	1	0	2	95	97	−2	2
Norway	3	1	0	2	80	87	−7	2

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

16 January 2012 18:10	Norway	28–27	Slovenia	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
	three players 6	(14–14)	Zorman, Gajić 5
	3× 5× 1×	Report	2× 9× 2×

---

16 January 2012 20:10	Croatia	31–29	Iceland	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Štrlek 8	(14–15)	Sigurðsson 8
	3× 4×	Report	3× 4×

---

18 January 2012 18:10	Slovenia	29–31	Croatia	Attendance: 3,800 Referees: Nikolov, Nachevski (MKD)
	Gajić 8	(12–16)	Čupić 9
	4× 5×	Report	3× 4×

---

18 January 2012 20:10	Iceland	34–32	Norway	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Gunnarsson 9	(18–20)	Mamelund 10
	3× 4×	Report	3× 4×

---

20 January 2012 18:10	Iceland	32–34	Slovenia	Attendance: 3,800 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Sigurðsson 9	(13–17)	Gajić, Skube 7
	2× 3×	Report	3× 5×

---

20 January 2012 20:10	Croatia	26–20	Norway	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Dinu, Din (ROU)
	Čupić 6	(13–8)	Mamelund 6
	4× 3×	Report	3× 7×

Main round

Group stage results between teams that qualified for the main round were carried over.

	Team advances to the Semifinals
	Team plays in the Fifth place game

Group I

Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade

Match Serbia vs Germany.

Result

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Serbia	5	3	1	1	110	104	+6	7
Denmark	5	3	0	2	140	133	+7	6
Macedonia	5	2	1	2	130	127	+3	5
Germany	5	2	1	2	132	129	+3	5
Poland	5	2	1	2	132	136	−4	5
Sweden	5	0	2	3	124	139	−15	2

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Initial standing and matches

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany (B)	2	2	0	0	53	47	+6	4
Serbia (A)	2	2	0	0	46	40	+6	4
Poland (A)	2	1	0	1	45	48	−3	2
Macedonia (B)	2	0	1	1	49	50	−1	1
Sweden (B)	2	0	1	1	50	55	−5	1
Denmark (A)	2	0	0	2	48	51	−3	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

(A) and (B) indicates from which group the teams came; in the main round they were playing only against teams from the other group. By three victories and the misfortune of among others Germany, Denmark qualified for the semifinals together with the host, Serbia. Notable results were Denmark's last second win against Macedonia and Poland's turnaround of first-half 9-20 result to win second half by the same numbers to equalize against Sweden.

21 January 2012 16:15	Poland	29–29	Sweden	Attendance: 6,003 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Jaszka 8	(9–20)	Ekberg 7
	2× 4×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

21 January 2012 18:15	Denmark	33–32	Macedonia	Attendance: 17,000 Referees: Raluy, Sabroso (ESP)
	Hansen 12	(16–19)	Lazarov 13
	3× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	2× 2×

---

21 January 2012 20:15	Serbia	21–21	Germany	Attendance: 20,500 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Ilić 6	(12–7)	Gensheimer 5
	3× 4×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 4×

---

23 January 2012 16:20	Poland	25–27	Macedonia	Attendance: 3,700 Referees: Leifsson, Pálsson (ISL)
	Jurecki 5	(12–18)	Lazarov 9
	2× 5×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 4×

---

23 January 2012 18:20	Denmark	28–26	Germany	Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Eggert 7	(17–14)	four players 4
	3× 2×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

23 January 2012 20:20	Serbia	24–21	Sweden	Attendance: 19,000 Referees: Raluy, Sabroso (ESP)
	Vujin 5	(14–11)	Ekdahl du Rietz 8
	3× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

25 January 2012 16:15	Poland	33–32	Germany	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Raluy, Sabroso (ESP)
	Jurecki, Kuchczynski 5	(18–17)	Klein, Sprenger 7
	2× 4×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 8× 1×

---

25 January 2012 18:15	Denmark	31–24	Sweden	Attendance: 5,200 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Eggert 7	(18–11)	Andersson 8
	3× 1×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 5×

---

25 January 2012 20:15	Serbia	19–22	Macedonia	Attendance: 24,805 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Vujin 5	(10–11)	Lazarov 10
	4× 1×	Report [ dead link ‍]	2× 4×

Group II

Venue: Spens Sports Center, Novi Sad

Result

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	5	4	1	0	143	130	+13	9
Croatia	5	3	1	1	137	128	+9	7
Slovenia	5	2	0	3	153	156	−3	4
Hungary	5	1	2	2	125	130	−5	4
Iceland	5	1	1	3	143	146	−3	3
France	5	1	1	3	128	139	−11	3

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Initial standing and matches

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Croatia (D)	2	2	0	0	62	58	+4	4
Spain (C)	2	1	1	0	53	50	+3	3
Hungary (C)	2	1	1	0	50	47	+3	3
Slovenia (D)	2	1	0	1	63	63	0	2
Iceland (D)	2	0	0	2	61	65	−4	0
France (C)	2	0	0	2	49	55	−6	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

(C) and (D) above indicates from which group the teams came, in the main round they are only playing against teams from the other group.

22 January 2012 16:10	Hungary	21–27	Iceland	Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Császár 7	(10–14)	Atlason, Sigurðsson 5
	3× 4×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 6×

---

22 January 2012 18:10	France	28–26	Slovenia	Attendance: 4,700 Referees: Dinu, Din (ROU)
	Barachet 6	(14–15)	Žvižej 6
	3× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 7×

---

22 January 2012 20:10	Spain	24–22	Croatia	Attendance: 7,500 Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
	Tomás 5	(11–14)	Čupić 5
	3× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

24 January 2012 16:10	Spain	31–26	Iceland	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Nikolov, Nachevski (MKD)
	Aguinagalde 5	(17–13)	Sigurðsson 6
	3× 2×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 2×

---

24 January 2012 18:10	France	22–29	Croatia	Attendance: 7,500 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Fernandez, Barachet 4	(12–11)	Kopljar, Čupić 7
	3× 2×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

24 January 2012 20:10	Hungary	30–32	Slovenia	Attendance: 6,800 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Putics 7	(13–14)	Gajić 13
	3× 5× 1×	Report [ dead link ‍]	4× 6×

---

25 January 2012 16:10	France	29–29	Iceland	Attendance: 2,800 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Accambray 10	(11–15)	Sigurðsson 5
	3× 2×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 1×

---

25 January 2012 18:10	Spain	35–32	Slovenia	Attendance: 3,200 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Romero 7	(15–15)	Žvižej 7
	3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

25 January 2012 20:10	Hungary	24–24	Croatia	Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Császár 14	(13–12)	Horvat 11
	2× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	4× 4×

Knockout stage

Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	27 January – Belgrade
	Serbia	26
					29 January – Belgrade
	Croatia	22
					Serbia	19
	27 January – Belgrade
					Denmark	21
	Spain	24
	Denmark	25
					Third place
					29 January – Belgrade
					Croatia	31
					Spain	27

Semifinals

27 January 2012 17:45	Denmark	25–24	Spain	Attendance: 14,000 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Lauge 6	(12–10)	Aguinagalde 5
	4× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 3×

---

27 January 2012 20:15	Serbia	26–22	Croatia	Attendance: 23,040 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Ilić 8	(13–14)	Kopljar 7
	3× 3×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 2×

Fifth place game

27 January 2012 15:15	Macedonia	28–27	Slovenia	Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Raluy, Sabroso (ESP)
	Lazarov 8	(16–12)	Dolenec 7
	3× 5×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 6×

Bronze medal game

29 January 2012 14:30	Croatia	31–27	Spain	Attendance: 8,500 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Lacković, Čupić 7	(13–12)	Sarmiento 7
	3× 5×	Report [ dead link ‍]	3× 2×

Final

29 January 2012 17:00	Serbia	19–21	Denmark	Attendance: 21,800 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Prodanović 4	(7–9)	M. Hansen 9
	4× 1×	Report [ dead link ‍]	2× 3×

The final was played at the Belgrade Arena between the host-nation Serbia and Denmark, and was seen by 19,800 spectators. ^[14] The teams played a match against each other in the group stage of the tournament, when Serbia defeated Denmark 24–22. Serbia's coach Veselin Vuković could not rely on Žarko Šešum, whose left eye was injured after he was hit with a bottle on the halftime break of the semi-final match against Croatia. ^[15]

The match started with tough play by both teams and low scoring. Denmark claimed the lead in the early phase of the match and controlled the period. Serbia's attacks were ineffective, and goalkeeper Darko Stanić made several saves. The Danes made fewer mistakes in the attacks and Anders Eggert scored important goals in the counter-attacks. Denmark led at halftime 9–7.

Early in the second half Denmark took an 11–7 lead, but then the Serbian players halted the opponent's run with a better play in defence, except for Mikkel Hansen who scored with his powerful shots in the critical moments of the game. The Danes were having the lead all the time with a margin of 1–4 goals and thanks to the saves of their goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen prevented the Serbians to level the result. The last minutes of the game were played with many mistakes on both sides, but Hansen scored the decisive goal for peerless lead 21–18 with 20 seconds to go. Serbia scored until the end making it 21–19 in favor of Denmark at the end. This was the second title for Denmark after they have previously won the European Championship in 2008. ^[1]

Ranking and statistics

Result

Final ranking

The final ranking for places 7 to 16 was determined by the team's group stage record. In case the ranking would have been relevant for Olympic qualification, there would have been a placement match for 7th and 9th place.

Rank	Team	Qualification
		WC	OG
	Denmark	Q	Q
	Serbia	Q	q
	Croatia	Q	q
4	Spain	H	q
5	Macedonia		q
6	Slovenia
7	Germany
8	Hungary		q
9	Poland		q
10	Iceland		q
11	France	C	Q
12	Sweden		q
13	Norway
14	Czech Republic
15	Russia
16	Slovakia

	Based on this tournament	Team qualifies for the above-mentioned tournament (Q) or its qualification tournament (q)
	Based on last world cup. H = host, C = champion

All Star Team

• Goalkeeper:  Darko Stanić  (SRB)
• Left Wing:  Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson  (ISL)
• Left Back:  Mikkel Hansen  (DEN)
• Centre Back:  Uroš Zorman  (SLO)
• Pivot:  Rene Toft Hansen  (DEN)
• Right Back:  Marko Kopljar  (CRO)
• Right Wing:  Christian Sprenger  (GER)

Other awards

• Top Scorer :   Kiril Lazarov  (MKD)
• Best Defence Player :   Viran Morros  (ESP)
• Most Valuable Player :   Momir Ilić  (SRB)

Source: ehf-euro.com, 29.01.2012

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Shots	%	MP
1	Kiril Lazarov  (MKD)	61	114	54	7
2	Dragan Gajić  (SLO)	48	67	72	7
3	Mikkel Hansen  (DEN)	45	89	51	8
4	Gábor Császár  (HUN)	43	68	63	6
5	Ivan Čupić  (CRO)	42	55	76	8
6	Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson  (ISL)	41	63	65	6
7	Momir Ilić  (SRB)	34	72	47	8
8	Niclas Ekberg  (SWE)	33	51	65	6
9	Blazenko Lackovic  (CRO)	32	56	57	8
10	Anders Eggert Jensen  (DEN)	30	39	77	8
	Luka Žvižej  (SLO)	30	41	73	7
	Jure Dolenec  (SLO)	30	47	64	7

Source: EHF

Controversies

Riots

On 24 January 2012, after the match between Croatia and France, Serbian hooligans attacked Croatian fans in several locations in Vojvodina, northern Serbia. In Novi Sad, Croatian supporters were heading home after the game, when they ran into a road block and some 50 masked men assaulted them with stones, bricks and axes, smashing windscreens. The attack left several supporters injured and one of them hospitalized. In Ruma, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south from Novi Sad, a Croatian van was set on fire and one of the passengers stabbed with a knife. ^{[16] [17] [18]}

A day later the unrest continued and many cars were damaged, torched, or burnt out throughout Novi Sad. ^[19] The Croatian Foreign Ministry officially complained to Serbian Ambassador Stanimir Vukicevic over the attacks; Vukicevic expressed regret and stated that the Serbian police was already taking the necessary steps. Thirteen people were arrested in connection with the incident, including Ivan Ključovski and Jovan Bajić, leaders of a fan group from Novi Sad, and a member of the Obraz right-wing organization. ^[20] After questioning, all of them remained in custody for a month. ^[21]

Serbia–Croatia semifinal

Serbia and Croatia met in the semi-final of the tournament, which caused further concern on both sides. About 5,000 policemen were deployed to ensure the security of the fans, while in Croatia some tourist agencies cancelled trips for the match and the Croatian Handball Federation (Hrvatski rukometni savez, HRS) also recommended not to go to Serbia as the supporters' safety might not be guaranteed. ^{[22] [23]} Spokesman Zlatko Skrinjar also added that the HRS had planned to organize trips for the event, however, they changed their mind due to the incidents in the preceding days. On the Croatian-Serbian border, joint checkpoints were set up to prevent hooligans and other groups who have no ticket for the match to enter Serbia, and to escort the fans with tickets from the border to Belgrade. ^{[23] [24]}

The police reported that there were no incidents during the match, ^[25] which was eventually won by the Serbians 26–22, however, a bottle actually meant for Croatian playmaker Ivano Balić and coach Slavko Goluža hit Serbian back player Žarko Šešum, severely injuring his eye. ^[26] Šešum's eye suffered significant bleeding. After the trauma he had only minimal vision on the affected eye, but the risk of permanent sight loss was reportedly averted. ^[27] Morten Stig Christensen, Secretary of the Danish Handball Federation, Serbia's opponent in the final said that he was "severely shocked" by the incident and so were the people from the European Handball Federation with whom he spoke. Christensen also added that he was shocked that although there were more than five thousand security personnel at the stadium, the hooligans still managed to sneak in Roman candles and laser lights. ^[28]

See also

• European Handball Federation

References

1. Björn, Pazen (29 January 2012). "Denmark win gold at Euro 2012". European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
2. Björn, Pazen (29 January 2012). "Croatia defeat their 'Bronze curse'". EHF EURO official website. Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
3. "EHF EURO 2012 – Day-by-day". European Handball Federation. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
4. Björn, Pazen (29 January 2012). "Denmark qualify directly for London 2012". EHF EURO official website. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
5. "Serbian hooligans spoil European handball championships". Deutsche Welle. 28 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
6. "Referees nominated for EHF EURO 2012". ehf-euro. 12 September 2011. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
7. "EHF EURO 2012 Final Tournament Draw". eurohandball.com. 17 May 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
8. "The draw has been made for EHF EURO 2012". eurohandball.com. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 19 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
9. Draw Procedure
10. "EHF EURO 2012 match schedule". ehf-euro.com. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
11. "Draw procedures for EHF EURO 2012". eurohandball.com. 13 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
12. "Official Playing Schedule". eurohandball.com. 1 July 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
13. Playing schedule
14. 2012 Men's European Championship – Final Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine , EHF official web site.
15. Šešum zbog kretenskog ispada “navijača” propušta finale, Telegraf, 28 January 2012. (in Serbian)
16. "Croatian handball fan stabbed in Serbia". T-Portal. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
17. "Croat fans attacked in northern Serbia". B92. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
18. "Croatia protests to Serbia over assaults on fans". Macedonian International News Agency. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
19. "Cars set on fire after handball match". B92. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
20. "Police continue search for attackers". B92. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
21. "Suspects for attack on Croat fans remanded in custody". B92. 28 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
22. "Sports: Violence hurts Serbia's name in intl sports – again". AKI. Adkronos. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
23. "Handball grudge match grips Serbia's capital". Al Jazeera. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
24. "5,000 police to secure Serbia-Croatia game". Tanjug. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
25. "No incidents reported at Serbia-Croatia handball match in Belgrade". T-Portal. 28 January 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
26. "Serbian handball player struck in eye by dart". Yahoo!. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
27. "Serbiens træner: Sesum ude af EM" (in Danish). TV 2 (Denmark). 28 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
28. "DHF-boss: Jeg er voldsomt rystet" (in Danish). TV 2 (Denmark). 28 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.

External links

• Official website