The handball players from the Faroe Islands missed the next European Championship surprise and were eliminated on their debut after a big fight in the preliminary round. Two days after the sensational draw against co-favorites Norway, the handball dwarf had to admit defeat to the team from Poland 28:32 (15:15) in Berlin. From Group D, Slovenia and Norway reached the second phase of the tournament.
The Faroese fans once again created a home game atmosphere in Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena. Thousands of supporters traveled from the small group of islands in the North Atlantic to the German capital to whip their team forward for over 60 minutes. Almost everyone wore a blue and white national jersey. The white wall shook and believed in the little handball miracle.
Both teams initially set off offensive fireworks on the field. Almost every attack led to a goal and no team was able to break away. The Poles were able to equalize the first two-goal lead for the Faroe Islands after around 20 minutes before the break.
The handball thriller continued in the second half. Poland took advantage of a short period of weakness for the Faroese to pull ahead by two goals. But Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu from the Bundesliga club THW Kiel and Hákun West av Teigum from Füchse Berlin made the Faroese fans cheer again.
With 13 minutes to go, nothing had been decided at 24:24. In the final phase, the Faroe Islands tried to work magic, but made a few technical errors that Poland consistently exploited. The Faroese fans still celebrated.
