A lifetime opportunity for Estonian handball

Five years ago Estonia had already been close to their first EHF EURO participation.

It was 8 June 2011 and Estonia faced FYR Macedonia in a qualifier en route to the EHF EURO 2012. The home side had four points on their account, the Macedonians just three.

With only one more match to play afterwards, a win would have done and dusted the deal, but FYR Macedonia led by Kiril Lazarov, who scored 10 goals, showed no mercy, won 31:25 and eventually qualified for the EHF EURO 2012.

“We were highly motivated. Even though we knew that we were the underdogs against the Macedonians, we truly believed we can make it,” remembers left back Mait Patrail who plays for TSV Hannover-Burgdorf in the German Bundesliga.

Ever since Estonia have never been that close again to an EHF EURO participation, but with the field of participants expanding to 24 for the 2020 event in Sweden, Austria and Norway, the chance to be part is looming on the horizon and bigger than ever before.

This feature is the start of a series that will take a closer look at the nine teams participating in the first qualification phase for the Men’s EHF EURO 2020. The first matches in this phase are played at the beginning of November.

Photo: Mait Patrail in action for TSV Hannover-Burgdorf

A thorny path

For the first qualification phase, Estonia have been drawn to Group B together with Turkey and Kosovo. And while these two will meet at the …

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