Noam Leopold put in an outstanding performance against Croatia.
Picture:
Keystone
Two days after the 26:29 defeat, the Swiss handball team got their revenge against Croatia. Coach Andy Schmid’s team won 30:28 in Kriens and defeated the World Championship runners-up for the first time ever.
On Thursday in Gümligen, a scoring drought lasting more than ten minutes after the score was 22:22 proved to be the Swiss team’s undoing. In the Pilatus Arena, which had opened a week earlier and was sold out with 4060 spectators, the locals were convincing for practically the entire game.
After making it 14:12 (25′), the Swiss conceded three goals in a row to make it 14:15 (29′) and trailed by two goals for the only time in the game at 17:19 (36′). However, they then went 22:21 in front again in the 49th minute and never trailed again. In the 53rd minute, the difference was three goals for the only time in the match (26:23). After the Croatians had equalized again at 27:27 (58′), the Swiss kept their cool and pulled away to 29:27 (60′) thanks to goals from Gino Steenaerts and Felix Aellen. They went on to record their first victory in their tenth encounter with the Croatians.
Left wing Noam Leopold, who plays for Nantes in France, played a major part in the victory, scoring ten goals with just two missed attempts. Right wing Steenaerts scored six times. Goalie Mathieu Seravalli impressed with ten saves and a 36 percent save rate. The Swiss’ performance was all the more impressive given the absence of key players Lenny Rubin, Samuel Röthlisberger and Manuel Zehnder due to injury, as well as suspended captain Nikola Portner.
The Swiss will play their next international matches at the Yellow Cup in Winterthur from January 8 to 10, 2026. There they will face Ukraine, Bahrain and North Macedonia in turn. It is the main rehearsal before the European Championships in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.