A slow second half and missed chances left Estonia searching for answers before the second leg.

Estonia's head coach Martin Noodla reflected: "Perhaps we overthought things. Perhaps we were too hasty. When we create opportunities but fail to convert them, it's difficult to play a game where the opponent is fully focused and in their element."

He also noted a lack of assertiveness on Estonia's part, saying: "We didn't have a shooter today who dared to take responsibility. We struggled, and our agreement to be a more aggressive team didn't hold up. This kind of rush and uncertain play carried over."

Estonia sits fourth in its group and, despite earlier losses to North Macedonia and Olympic semifinalist Slovenia, qualification hopes remained alive going into the Lithuania game, not least since Estonia had beaten them by six goals in the Baltic Sea tournament in January, albeit against a below-strength Lithuania team.

The squad was back to par on Wednesday however, while Estonia was missing key players Karl Toom and Mait Patrail.

Pivot player Hendrik Varul commented on Lithuania's strengths as aggressive players, adding: "We are not pushovers either."

On the day, the game at Kalev Sports Hall started well for the hosts, as they opened with two unanswered goals.

However, Lithuania quickly responded with a dominant 6:1 streak, taking control of the match.

While Estonia was able to narrow the gap to two goals at times, the team ultimately trailed 10:17 at halftime.

The second half started in the same vein, i.e., poorly for Estonia, as the Lithuanians extended their lead to 11 goals within minutes.

The home team finally found the net again after five and a half minutes, but by then, the game was slipping out of reach. Despite their efforts, Estonia had to accept a 30:20 home loss.

Dener Jaanimaa was Estonia's top scorer with six goals, while Aidenas Malasinskas also netted six for Lithuania.

By the stats, perhaps unsurprisingly, Lithuania demonstrated superior efficiency, converting 60 percent of their shots, while Estonia's accuracy was 11 percentage points lower.

Lithuania took a total of 50 shots, compared with Estonia's 41.

Looking ahead to Sunday's second leg in Klaipeda, Coach Noodla remained hopeful, saying: "We will make our adjustments and approach the next game a bit more calmly. These things need to be done better. We will go out to play, we will go out to fight – this is not over yet."

The EHF European Men's Handball Championship finals take place next year in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!