How our internationals fared

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Last week, Paris Saint-Germain Handball had some time off but many of the players were in action for their respective national teams as Euro 2020 qualifying and international friendlies took centre stage.

France:
Roundly beaten by Portugal in Guimaraes in mid-week (33-27), Les Bleus returned to action at the Rhenus in Strasbourg on Sunday afternoon, once again facing the red and greens. This time, the Experts won out, despite a slow first half (16-15). In the final 30 minutes, with Parisians Luka Karabatic (one goal), Nikola Karabatic (5) and Nedim Remili (7) leading the way, Didier Dinart's men came out on top to clinch victory and an aggregate win over the two legs (33-24). They sit atop a Group 6 that also includes Romania and Lithuania.

Germany:
Group 1, we find Uwe Gensheimer's Germany who qualified for the Euros with two matches left to play, thanks to wins over Poland in Gliwice on Wednesday (18-26), with Uwe bagging nine goals, and in Germany on Saturday, when Uwe went one better with ten goals (29-24). They will now look to stay on top of their group with victory over Israel in June.

Croatia:
Luka Stepancic's Croatia got the job done, and now sit atop Group 2 with two matches left to play. However, this Balkan derby was far from easy: in the first leg, Luka had to step in three times to make sure his side didn't leave Belgrade empty-handed (25-25). In the second leg, victory was much more strighforward for Croatia (27-23), who clinched qualification ahead of final clashes against Switzerland and Belgium in June.

Denmark:
Our freshly crowned World Champions Henrik Toft Hansen and Mikkel Hansen were in action for Denmark but took a first stumble since they beat the world, falling to Montenegro by one goal at the Moraca Sporting Centre (32-31) - despite eight goals form Mikki and a double from Henrik. Just like France, the Danes redeemed themselves in the return leg three days later (37-26) and now need just a draw against Ukraine in June to punch their ticket for the finals.

Already qualified:
Meanwhile, the reigning champs an the host nations were in friendly action, playing the third and fourth matches of their mini-tournament. In action were Sander Sagosen's Norway (host nation), Kim Ekdahl du Rietz's Sweden (host nation) and a Spain (reigning champs) side featuring Rodrigo Corrales (Viran Morros was rested). The two-legged Scandinavian derby went in favour of the Norwegians, thank notably to ten goals from Sander (35-26 ; 27-33), while Spain were first of all surprised by Austria (29-28) before righting the ship on Sunday (35-31). Norway top the table, followed by Spain Sweden and Austria.

(Credits: S. Pillaud/FFHandball)