TOOn the way to the arena it could happen that on the next tram there would be a hippopotamus and a gentleman. The carnival is approaching in Cologne and throughout the day people in good spirits, dressed in costumes, attended their meetings. Danish and French handball fans, for their part, wore the colors of their national teams, with clear advantages for the red and whites.

queen mary of Denmark He sat in the sand and watched the two best handball teams in this high-level spectacle. It took more time to distinguish the winners from the losers, and in the end it was French intelligence and confidence that defeated Denmark 33-31 and were crowned European champions.

Late, very late, French star Dika Mem scored two goals. That, along with a strong defense, was enough to defeat the ultimately unimaginative Danes. For French coach Guillaume Gille, it is the fourth Euro Cup title after those of 2006, 2010 and 2014. Nikolaj Jacobsen The Danes have been waiting for first place in the continental tournament since 2012.

Denmark had a lead of one or two goals, but at the end of regulation time they were too clumsy to put the final behind them. In extra time it was the strong Ludovic Fábregas who made France advance. He scored eight goals.

The Danes relied too much on the individual class of Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick. They scored 13 goals together, but their strength waned after grueling wrestling matches.

In France, this Euro Cup is won by a team that remained undefeated throughout the tournament and impressed both collectively and individually without showing the best handball. However, their access to the final was only achieved thanks to an unpunished breach of the rules in the semi-final against Sweden.