Dutch handball players lose the first World Cup qualifying match in Greece

NOS Sports•today, 5:59 PM

The Dutch handball players have lost the first match of the World Cup qualifying diptych with Greece. In Kozani the score was 31-27.

The return will be played in Eindhoven next Sunday. The winner over two matches will qualify for the World Cup in January 2025 in Croatia, Norway and Denmark.

In the first half, the Netherlands led by a small margin for a long time. After ten minutes the score was 2-4, thanks to two goals from Rutger ten Velde and Niels Versteijnen. Robin Schoenaker also had a two to his name, but because he received a time penalty twice in the first ten minutes.

Greece equalized a few minutes before half-time, and the home team even went into the break with a 13-12 lead.

After halftime, Ten Velde missed a penalty with a score of 20-17, while two Greeks were not on the field due to a double time penalty. The gap was not closed in the remaining time of surplus.

The gap was increased to four in the final minutes, meaning the Netherlands had to work hard on Sunday.