Tight wins for Slovenia and Ukraine

In today´s matches some of the favourites struggled hard for victory. Hungary had a very tough time in Belarus, Denmark´s vacation in Italy was disturbed by the effective Italians, whilst Slovenia and Ukraine celebrated single goal wins in their clashes. France, Germany, Serbia and Spain are, after two clear victories, well on the way to qualifying for the Netherlands, whilst Turkey beat FYR Macedonia in a clear manner to also get a good base for EHF EURO qualification.

Round 2, Day 2: 23 October 2011



Group 1



Belarus vs. Hungary 25:28 (14:12)


An unexpectedly hard fight for the favoured Hungarians, but Karl Erik Bøhn´s team overcame the motivated Belarus players and moved one step closer to its aim of reaching EHF EURO 2012 in the Netherlands. The home side had the better start and Hungary had massive problems with the Belarus back-court. The away team’s defence was not working well and the attacking was also not efficient enough. Several errors occurred and too many attacks were pressured into quick executions. With those errors, Belarus were able to start several fast-breaks, and with them, the east-europeans established a surprising lead, partly due to some marvelous saves from Ferencváros goalkeeper Elena Abramovich. After Orsolya Vérten´s injury, player of the match, Anita Görbicz (with nine goals) moved to the left wing and Zita Szucsánszki directed the Hungarian attacks. With a good serie, Hungary turned the match in the early stage of the second half. Orsolya Herr improved greatly between the sticks, saving three penalties, and her great self-confidence spread to her colleagues, enabling Hungary to maintain their lead to the end.

Azerbaijan vs. Germany 16:34 (7:15)


Top favourite Germany celebrated an easy victory in Baku over underdogs Azerbaijan. After a nervous early phase, Heine Jensen´s team found the pace of the game and with a 4:1 lead, showed who was the boss of this game. The German players used an aggressive defence which disturbed the opponent´s attacks, forcing them into mistakes. With a secure lead, coach Jensen shuffled his cards and rotated his side well, giving everyone playing opportunities. It ended with all 14 outfield players scoring goals, among them Sabrina Richter, who became top scorer with eight.

Group 2



Portugal vs. Serbia 21:32 (12:15)

Despite missing number one goalkeeper Katarine Tomašević, the Serbian ladies had no problems in defeating their South European opponent, Portugal. Serbia were the leading force in the first half, but when some errors crept in into their play, the home side used every opportunity to close the gap. Hectic attacks followed on the Serbian side and Portugal leveled the game. Showing great spirit, the away side replied quickly and regained the lead at half-time. In the last 30 minutes Serbia turned up the heat and with the home side becoming tired and exhausted, top scorer Andrea Lekić (7 goals) and her team-mates made a great run and increased the lead from minute to minute. Portugal finally surrendered and Serbia brought home two important points in the race for an EHF EURO 2012 spot.



Group 4



Turkey vs. FYR Macedonia 36:28 (20:13)

As France is the strongest team in the group and will therefore, almost certainly, finish on top, this clash had great importance. The result could be decisive about which team finishes second, and also travels to the EHF EURO 2012 in the Netherlands. Knowing this, the Turkish players took control of the match from the early phase onwards. Besides their jewel, Yeliz Özel, Serpil Iskenderoglu also made a great contribution to the defeat of FYR Macedonia. The 29-year old scored 13 times in this affair, where defences didn’t appear to be of great importance to the two teams. For FYR Macedonia it was again Biljana Crvenkoska and Mirjeta Bajramovksa who scored the most, but their goals weren´t enough to endanger Turkey, who celebrated on the floor their highly-important 8-goal victory. 



Lithuania vs. France 25:40 (13:21)


A clear and impressive victory for coach Olivier Krumbholz´s team, as his side outclassed the east-europeans in this duel. Still, France have conceded 25 goals, which displeased their trainer. The match had already been pre-decided at the early stage of the first half, the away team building a clear advantage against Lithuania. Krumbholz rotated his side again, resulting in 10 players scoring, among them Blandine Dancette and Mariama Signate, who became top scorers with seven goals each. For Lithuania, the top scorers were Zivile Jurgutyte and Aukse Vysniauskaite, with six goals each.



Group 5



Slovenia vs. Austria 29:28 (13:13)

No points for Austria in their second match either, as Slovenia defeated their neighbours by a single goal. Coach Herbert Müller´s team made a dream start, as on Wednesday against Czech Republic, with his Austrian side leading by 4:2 and later on, by 12:9. Slovenia fought back bravely, resulting in an equalizer before the half-time buzzer. It was a different picture in the second period with the Austrians often playing with a player less, and Slovenia taking the lead, but Sonja Frey and her team-mates quickly leveled to 16:16. The two national teams continued a head-to-head fight with the Slovenians building a three-goal advantage before the dying minutes. Beate Scheffknecht made it an exciting finish, but the Austrians could only close the gap to one goal. So Slovenia celebrated their first victory in the tournament, and a very important one if they wish to fight for a EHF EURO spot. Player of the match was Ana Gros with 13 goals, and Miša Marinček made an amazing 23 saves.



Group 6



Italy vs. Denmark 22:27 (10:14)


Despite the home defeat, Italy did very well against a Danish team that lacked structure and direction in today´s match. As expected, the Danes had no trouble in beating their Italian opponents, but the Danish efforts were far from flashy. Denmark started well, but the errors piled-up in both attack and defence. Both Christina Krogshede and Krsitina Kristiansen tried to give their best, but failed, so FCM player Line Jørgensen saved the pride of the Danish attackers by scoring five goals for her side. The combative Italians fought back bravely to close-up to 8:9 after 20 minutes. Denmark, refreshed from the break, moved on to a comfortable 20:10 lead, but then again, massive fluctuations occurred and Italy managed a fantastic catch-up phase resulting in a tight finish at 22:24. The experienced Danes then managed to calm things down, and Italian hopes were dashed, as, with the final three goals of the game, Denmark secured a 5-goal victory.



Group 7



Iceland vs. Ukraine 20:21 (11:8)

What a tight and exciting match in Iceland! Despite a clear Icelandic lead after 30 minutes, Ukraine turned the match and won by a single goal, to the big disappointment of the vocal home fans. This match-up promised the biggest clash among the weekend´s qualification games and it brought thrilling handball with both sides presenting a great wall of defense resulting in low scores. Iceland were the leading force, establishing a 7:3 lead, the Icelandic rock-solid defence only allowing three goals for the east-europeans after 20 minutes. Ukraine changed their system and with several substitutions, the rhythm of the game had been found again. Iceland missed some good chances that would have given them an even bigger lead after 30 minutes. With man-marking and a defence on the 9 m line, Ukraine surprised the host and turned the match to 17:16. The experienced Ukrainians were able to maintain the lead, whilst Iceland lacked power and courage to fight back and take the lead again. Ukraine´s goalkeeper Natalya Parhomenko made some extraordinary saves, and was a key player in the victory of her side. With this tight win Ukraine gained revenge on Iceland for the loss in the World Championship qualification in June earlier this year.



Switzerland vs. Spain 20:29 (6:15)

World-class Spain collected two points in their away game against Switzerland, who had effectively lost this duel in the first half. Nevertheless, the Swiss players brought an improved performance to the second half, giving a much better account of themselves. The Spaniards quickly found the right rhythm in the game and after nine minutes they led by 5:0. The game continued according to the wishes of the away side, with a 10-goal difference after 23 minutes. Jorge Dueñas´s team kept their high tempo in the second half, increasing the lead to 13 goals after 45 minutes. In the last 10 minutes the Spaniards slowed things down a little, and Switzerland made a 5:0 serie, resulting in a Spanish time out. Nevertheless, Spain happily celebrated their second victory in two games. The top Swiss scorers were Karin Weigelt and Azra Mustafoska with five goals each, whilst for the south-Europeans, Jessica Alonso and Verónica Cuadrado scored the most, with five goals each.

Round 3 of the EHF EURO qualification will follow in March 2012.


Further Information

Find more information on the Women's EHF EURO 2012 Qualification HERE.

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www.ehf-euro.com/NED2012/

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