The Faroese women’s handball team made history over this past week, playing their first ever EHF Euro championship tournament and scoring their first point in an EHF Euro.
With two matches and a draw, the Faroese team did not advance beyond the first round; yet all in all, their performance has received a great deal of praise in the Faroes.
“Our goal was to win points at which we succeeded and now awaits an exciting future for the women’s team,” the Handball Federation of the Faroe Islands said in a statement following the team’s final championship match on Tuesday.
On November 29th, the Faroes played their first match against Switzerland, which they ended up losing by three goals, 28-25, with a half-time score of 13-7.
Then on Sunday, the Faroes played a spectacular match against Croatia, which ended in a 17-17 draw. Croatia was leading during the entirety of the first half, with 9-8 at the half-time break. Eleven minutes into the second half, the Faroese leveled the score for the first time and in the 55th minute the Faroese managed to take the lead when Pernille Brandenburg scored the team’s 17th goal. Croatia’s equalizer, however, came moments later; five minutes later the final whistle sounded with a 17-17 draw.
Team Faroes’ had one more match to go in Group D, played on Tuesday, against handball great power Denmark. Unsurprisingly, Denmark was leading 15-7 at the midway break; and the second half left no doubt as to which team was ruling the field, concluding in a clear 33-24 victory to the Danes, who ended up on the top spot in Droup D with 6 points. Switzerland finished in second place with 4 points, and the Faroes and Croatia each managed to get one point.
2024 turned out to be an especially historic year for Faroese handball, as both the men and women’s teams secured their first ever points in an EHF Euro championship. The men’s team participated in the men’s EHF Euro championship in Germany back in January, where they made history with a 26-26 draw against mighty Norway.
