The hopes of a handball-mad nation were blown out of the water after a strong Danish side, led by a player of the match performance by goalkeeper Sandra Toft, won 21:17 (11:7) against the hosts in the GETEC-Arena, Magdeburg. Denmark will now play Sweden in the last eight after they beat Slovenia in their quarter-final in Leipzig.

In the first eighth-final in Magdeburg, Montenegro easily beat neighbours Serbia 31:29 to set up a quarter-final against Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallists France after the French beat Hungary in their eighth-final.

EIGHTH-FINALS

Serbia vs Montenegro 29:31 (9:14)

“I have a contract as long as we are in this championship, so I am very happy I got three more days,” joked Montenegro coach Per Johansson after their first knockout match at Germany 2017, something which he admitted his side were prepared for after their must-not-lose match against Brazil in their final preliminary group match.

The facts were that this match was a lot easier for his side than the final scoreline suggested. The contest was effectively over after the first quarter when a 6:0 unanswered run from his team silenced Serbia (8:3, 16th minute). While Katarina Bulatovic did the early work from the nine-metre line with some explosive shooting, the clear player of the match Jovanka Radicevic (nine goals) was the heart and soul of the Montenegrin side with her constant scoring and energy on court – her curling, half-court shot to make it 20:14 was a sight to behold.

11 two-minute suspensions were the result of the high emotions of a derby match such as this, but Montenegro were always in control, light-footed and full of tactical ideas, in stark contrast to Serbia who toiled for nearly all the 60 minutes – highlighted by that early quarter where there were 13 minutes between their third and fourth goals.

“We are very happy to have made it to the quarter-finals, but it was very difficult for us,” said Montenegro’s Tatjana Brnovic. “We are lucky that we won but sometimes it can be the energy after the games of the preliminary rounds which decides which team goes further and we are lucky that it was us.”

“Today we did not show the level we played at during the preliminary round,” said Serbia coach Ljubomir Obradovic. “We put ourselves under too much pressure and played a bad first half and missed a lot of open shots.”

Dragana Cvijic, who scored seven, promised that her Serbian side would look forward to playing their rivals at the EHF EURO 2018 in France and wished them good luck for the rest of Germany 2017.

“I am still proud of my team,” she said, despite the loss. “During the group stage we had five amazing games, but one day everything can change. We have to look to the future and we have set ourselves the goal to get to Tokyo, for the 2020 Olympic Games.

“We are sorry about the loss, but it was not our day.”

Player of the Match presented by adidas: Jovanka RADICEVIC (MNE)

Germany vs Denmark 17:21 (7:11)

After six seconds of this match starting, the referees paused the game as the match clock had failed to start and this was a perfect metaphor for Germany who struggled to get out of first gear for the whole 60 minutes, despite the best efforts of their evergreen goalkeeper Clara Woltering. In the end, it was a goalkeeper who stole the show though with Denmark’s Sandra Toft making numerous stops throughout the 60 minutes and rightly grabbing the best player award at the final buzzer.

The fact that Germany could only score seven goals in the first half and just three in the first 15 minutes of the second, highlighted the lack of firepower in their attack and in a game interrupted by nine two-minute suspensions and a red card, shown to Line Haugsted after the Dane connected with an opponent’s head, with just 23 minutes on the clock, Germany waved goodbye to Magdeburg and their home tournament.

“We were surprised to keep Germany to seven goals in the first half,” said Denmark coach Klavs Bruun Jorgensen after the game. “That was due to Sandra Toft, who was amazing today. The pressure we put on the Germans meant that they had to score every time which also resulted in the main saves, but I think our defence was very strong throughout the match. 

“Now we are very excited and are looking forward to meeting Sweden.”

Danish player Trine Ostergaard Jensen also praised the shotstoppers. “Our attack and defence were good on our side, but both goalkeepers did a very good job,” she said. “I am very happy with the victory today.”

“We made too many mistakes in the attack and had too many technical mistakes,” said Germany coach Michael Biegler. “That’s the reason why we only scored 17 goals which is just not enough against a team such as Denmark.”

“It just wasn’t enough in our attack today,” said Germany’s Katja Kramarczyk. “The defence was OK, especially with a very good Clara Woltering, but it was still not enough in the attack.”

Player of the Match presented by adidas: Sandra TOFT (DEN)