Denmark got off to an ideal and quite expected start at the European Championship, when they defeated North Macedonia without much difficulty.
After two solid halves, where there was still room for improvement, the Danes recorded a comfortable win, 36-24.
Denmark thus claim first place in their group, after Portugal beat Romania 40-34 earlier on Friday.
Simon Pytlick delivered a great performance with nine goals and was named Player of the Match, followed closely by Mathias Gidsel with eight.
As expected, North Macedonia focused heavily on limiting the attacking threat of Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick from the start. It took the Danes a few attacks to crack the code of that defense, but at 3-3, Denmark pulled away with five successive goals.
Denmark’s defence was particularly effective as they man-marked the opponents' left back for the best part of the match, regardless of who was playing in that position, which limited the Macedonians' fluidity in attack.
Coach Kiril Lazarov, who was missing a couple of their most experienced and key players in the starting line-up, including goalkeeper Nikola Mitrevski and line player Zharko Peshevski, tried a few different scenarios to limit Denmark's attack, setting a 5-1 defence in the second half, but Gidsel switched from right back to playmaker and found solutions for his creative approaches.
With the passionate Danish supporters in full voice from the beginning, the support gave the co-hosts wings to fly, and they celebrated together with their fans after leading throughout.