Denmark national handball team
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| Denmark | |||
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| Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Danish Handball Association | ||
| Coach | Ulrik Wilbek | ||
| Most caps | Lars Christiansen (335) | ||
| Most goals | Lars Christiansen (1500) | ||
| Colours | |||
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| Results | |||
| Summer Olympics | |||
| Appearances | 5 (First in 1972) | ||
| Best result | 4th, 1984 | ||
| World Championship | |||
| Appearances | 18 (First in 1938) | ||
| Best result | 2nd, 1967 & 2011 | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 9 (First in 1994) | ||
| Best result | 1st, 2008, 2012 | ||
| Infobox last updated on: Unknown. | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Denmark |
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| Men's Handball | ||
| World Men's Handball Championship | ||
| Silver | 2011 Sweden | Team Competition |
| Silver | 1967 Sweden | Team Competition |
| Bronze | 2007 Germany | Team Competition |
| European Championship | ||
| Gold | 2012 Serbia | Team Competition |
| Gold | 2008 Norway | Team Competition |
| Bronze | 2006 Switzerland | Team Competition |
| Bronze | 2004 Slovenia | Team Competition |
| Bronze | 2002 Sweden | Team Competition |
The Denmark national handball team is the national handball team of Denmark. Controlled by the Danish Handball Association it represents Denmark in international matches. They are, as of January 2012, the current reigning European Champions and the team with most medals won in European Championship history on the men's side with a total of five medals, those being two gold medals (2008, 2012), and three bronze medals (2002, 2004 & 2006).
History
Handball is one of the most popular pastimes in Denmark, only exceeded by e.g. football and badminton. At the end of 2003 the Danish Handball Association had more than 146.000 active and passive members.
2007 World Championship
In 2007 Denmark participated in the World Championship in Germany, where they were pitted in Group E against Angola, Hungary and their neighbors to the north Norway. Denmark finished second in their group following victories against Angola and Norway. In the main round the team faced Croatia, Czech Republic, Russia, Hungary and defending champions Spain.
Despite an initial defeat against Croatia, the team advanced by defeating their last three opponents. In the quarterfinal Iceland was defeated by the narrowest of margins, 42-41. In the semifinal Denmark lost to Poland 36-33 and ended up in the bronze match against France where they won 34-27 thus placing third.
Denmark's pivot Michael V. Knudsen was added to the All Star Team of the tournament.
2008 European Championship
After finishing 3rd in three consecutive European Championships, the Danish team won gold at the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship, which took place in neighboring Norway. The team lost only one match on the way to the gold, that being a fiercely contested derby against hosts Norway. The Danish team defeated Croatia 24-20 in the final, after inching out Germany in the semis. Keeper Kasper Hvidt and winger Lars Christiansen were important factors in the Danish campaign, both being selected for the tournament all-star team and Lars Christiansen also finishing as shared top goalscorer.
2010 European Championship
As defending champions, Denmark was a favorite to reclaim the title. However, they didn't succeed, losing matches to both Iceland and Croatia. In stead of advancing to the main-round Denmark ended up playing for 5th place against Spain. They won the placement match 34-27.
2011 World Championship
At The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, after winning 9 matches in a row, Denmark reached the final beating Spain 28:24 in the semi-final. This was the first time in over 44 years, that the Denmark National Handball Team reached a World Championship final. In the final, Denmark lost against France 35:37 in overtime. This meant at the time, that France was able to hold all three major titles as reigning European Champions, Olympic Champions and also double World Champions.
2012 European Championship
Denmark came to the 2012 European Men's Handball Championship as vice World Champions and as one of the pre-favorites to win the tournament. However, in the main group, Denmark lost to both Serbia and Poland, proceeding to the main round with zero points, having only won against Slovakia. This meant that Denmark had to win all of their matches and at the same time, they had to rely on other results in order to advance to the semi-finals. Miraculously, results from other matches were in favor of Denmark. The destiny of Denmark's survival lay in the hands of Poland as Poland had to win against Germany in order to sustain Denmark's survival in the tournament. After a fierce and close match between Poland and Germany, Poland won 33-32. This meant that Denmark only had to beat Sweden in their final main round match, and they would go through to the semi-finals. Denmark beat Sweden by a large margin, 31-24, making handball history along the way, becoming the first team ever, both on the men's and women's side in European Championship history to advance to the semi-finals having carried zero points into the main round.
Like the 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, Denmark met Spain in the semi-finals, a match Denmark won 25-24. In the other semi-final, hosting nation Serbia met Croatia, a match Serbia won 26-22.
In a low scoring match, Denmark won their second European Championship title after beating Serbia 21-19 in the final, thus becoming the first handball team ever claiming the European Championship title having carried zero points into the main round.
Performance timeline
Performance timeline
World Championships
European Championships
Olympic games |
The team did not participate in the 1936 field handball tournament at the Olympics, but lost at the 1952 Olympics in a demonstration match against Sweden.
Current squad
The Danish international squad as of January 10, 2012.[1]
References
External links
- The Danish Handball Association (Danish)
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