Croatia won 22:19 over France yesterday, so the pairings in the semifinales look like this:

1.	Croatia	vs.	Poland
2.	France	vs.	Denmark

The final main round overview:

Group I

1. Croatia - 10:0 pts - 137:118 - +19
2. France - 8:2 pts - 139:112 - +27
3. Hungary - 5:5 pts - 127:135 - -8
4. Sweden - 4:6 pts - 135:140 - -5
5. Slovakia - 3:7 pts - 124:137 - -13
6. South Korea - 0:10 pts - 119:139 - -20

Group II

1. Denmark - 8:2 pts - 156:145 - +11
2. Poland - 6:4 pts - 150:141 - +9
3. Germany - 5:5 pts - 147:133 - +14
4. Serbia - 5:5 pts - 153:161 - -8
5. Norway - 4:6 pts - 138:141 - -3
6. Macedonia - 2:8 pts - 132:155 - -23

Norway played a really good match, fighting like lions against lucky Poland and lost unluckily in the last seconds. Fourteen seconds… 30:30… Norway is in the possession of the ball, they now play with seven field players an no goal keeper, everything’s set to score the last goal in the game.

Oh no, Kristian Kjelling botches during the offence and Polish player Artur Siódmiaka catches the ball and throws it with a wide curve over the whole field into Norway’s empty goal. 31:30! Not only ending Norway’s dreams of reaching the semifinales, but also shattering the last hope of Germany to get there, too. The German team needed a draw between Poland and Norway to get on.

This match was really a heart attack match. In the end I jumped of my chair heavily cursing after the ball landed inside Norway’s goal. Well, understandable when two of my personal favourites are eliminated from the tournament.

Now all my hope and wishes rest on the Danish!

Following the bad experience with the Slovenian referees in the match between Germany and Norway, now the referees are the bad guys again. Denmark won the match against Germany with 27:25, overshadowed by the shady decisions of the this time Roumanian referees against the German team. Two games in a row where the referees perform in a questionable way - coincidence?

Otherwise it was an exciting match and in the end the Danes won with sheer luck and stronger nerves. Well, they only needed a draw to get to the semifinales. My hero of the day was Kasper Hvidt - a really exceptional goal keeper! Nevertheless the newly reformed German team played an exciting and good tournament. Let’s look forward to the European Championship 2010!