Another eight teams keep a clean record
28 of 84 matches of the EHF EURO 2014 qualification have been played - and ten out of 28 teams still have a clean record after two rounds: After Croatia and Sweden had taken their second wins already on Saturday, Spain, Montenegro, Norway, France, Hungary, Poland, Iceland and Serbia followed on Sunday.
The biggest surprise were the victories of Portugal against Fyr Macedonia and of Montenegro against Czech Republic. Germany were close to another defeat at Israel but iin the end scraped home unscarred.
Rounds 3 and 4 will be played in April 2013, the Rounds 5 and 6 in June 2013.
Group 1:
Switzerland vs. Spain 22:33 (8:14)
A perfect defence and a flawless goalkeeper performance were the key for the second Spanish victory in the EHF EURO 2014 qualification, while the host remain at zero points after having lost the first qualifying match at Fyr Macedonia.
Backed by this defence, the Spaniards easily took control of the game, though the host were not much below par and fought hard. After the Macedonian loss in Portugal, Spain now top the table, two points ahead of Portugal and Fyr Macedonia.
The number of technical mistakes in the Swiss game was much too high to be a competitor for the Spaniards. Aside, the defence of the guest team stood brilliantly, a wall the host could not break through.
The match had been decided already at the break, as Switzerland could not manage to come closer than six goals. The only department the hosts were better, was when being in a one-man-advantage, when they scored much more goals than their opponent.
Even a big rotation after the break did not stop the Spanish rhythm, as the number of high quality substitutes on the bench was much higher than for the host.
Valero Rivera junior, son of coach Valero Rivera sen., ensured the first double-figure gap by a double strike to 26:16, while the Spanish goalkeeper Arpad Sterbik still held his shop shut. In the end, Viktor Tomas was top scorer with six goals.
Portugal vs. Fyr Macedonia 32:25 (18:13)
Unexpected, sensational, surprising: Only three days after they had been clashed by Spain by 14 goals, Portugal rose like Phoenix from the ashed against Fyr Macedonia and shocked their opponents, the fifth ranked team at the EHF EURO 2012.
The Balkan team, which had started their campaign by an easy-going win against Switzerland, could not cope with the Portuguese way of defending.
Furthermore goalkeeper Hugo Laurentino had the match of his life for the host.
After 15 minutes Portugal were already ahead by 11:4, at the break the distance had melted to five goals, and 12 minutes before the end, when the Macedonians had reduced the gap to only 23:25 the match was close to turn - but Laurentino prevented his team from falling behind.
Top scorer was Carlos Carneiro with eight goals.
Previous results:
Round 1:
Fyr Macedonia vs. Switzerland 30:24 (17:9)
Spain vs. Portugal 34:20 (16:9)
Group 2:
Montenegro vs. Czech Republic 23:22 (12:13)
Montenegro remain the biggest surprise among all 28 teams in the EHF EURO 2014 qualification: After their sensational victory against Germany on Thursday, they now top the group table following a lucky, but in the end deserved win over the Czech team.
Nobody expected the Balkan team on top after two rounds, now their dreams have come true.
The match was a 100 percent Hitchcock thriller, a balanced duel on high level with both teams showing absolute will to win. Thanks to the shots of Filip Jicha (top scorer with seven goals) and the saves of goalkeeper Richard Stochl, the Czech team were in lead most of the time in the first half.
Boosted by their spectators and the improvement of goalkeeper Rade Mijatovic, Montenegro came up again, punished a seven-minute period without one Czech goal by four strikes and turned the game around from 15:16 to 19:16.
And the spectators went crazy when their team extended the gap to 23:19, but the Czechs never gave up, scored three straight goals to make it 23:22, but did not manage to strike for the equaliser in the final minute.
Israel vs. Germany 27:30 (14:13)
Lacklustre Germans were close to another disaster, but thanks to an improvement in attack after the break they secured their first points in the EHF EURO 2014 qualification. Despite their second straight defeat Israel, under their new coach Dragan Djukic, showed another brave performance.
In the first half the German could not stop the downswing they had already shown at their defeat against Montenegro on Thursday. Israel played with much more passion, heart and self-assurance than the 2007 world champions that lacked concentration in attack and will in defence.
So the host, at one point, was ahead by three goals, and without German goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter's saves the distance would have been much larger than the one goal at the break.
Arvishay Smoler and Chen Pomeranz, who both play or played in the German league, caused a lot of problems for the German defence, but as their attackers improved, the guest team went away to 22:18 in the middle of the second half.
Who thought that the match would have been turned around, was wrong, as Israel fought hard and reduced the gap in the final stages again to only two goals, before a double strike of Uwe Gensheimer and Sven-Sören Christophersen to 29:25 decided this tough and unexpectedly close duel.
Previous results:
Round 1:
Czech Republic vs. Israel 27:22 (14:10)
Germany vs. Montenegro 27:31 (11:17)
Group 3:
Lithuania vs. Norway 21:28 (8:15)
The clear and easy-going away victory was the perfect present for Norwegian playmaker Börge Lund, who celebrated his 200th international match in Kaunas.
Thanks to their second win the Northern Europeans are not only one step to closer to their Nordic neighbour Denmark, but keep a clean record. After being defeated by France on Wednesday this was the second loss for the Lithuanians, who were again without a chance in this match.
As their defence including goalkeeper Ole Erevik stood strong, Norway did not allow any Lithuanian goal in the first ten minutes, granting themselves with a 5:0-lead.
After the being behind 15:8 at the break the host had their best period, reducing the gap from 11:19 to only 16:19, but thanks to Lund the Norwegians managed to survive this crucial period to reach a never threatened victory in the end.
Top scorers were Joakim Hyrrerud (Norway) and Vaidotas Grosas (Lithuania) with six goals each.
Turkey vs. France 20:33 (7:17)
As expected world and Olympic champions France have a clean record after two matches. Like in their opener against Lithuania they did not have any problems to take home both points from Turkey.
Like Norway - their opponent in Rounds 3 and 4 - France have four points on their account, as the Turkish side is on the bottom, equal at zero with Lithuania.
After he only sat on the tribune during France's 27:18 victory on Wednesday, Nikola Karabatic was back on the field for his first international since more than one month and the investigations against him.
The former World Handball Player of the Year replaced William Accambray, who suffered a broken nose in the match against Lithuania.
In minute 11, Karabatic scored his first of overall four goals after his absence, netting to make it 7:4 for the French side.
But his shift did not take that long, as coach Claude Onesta replaced him by youngster Matthieu Grebille already before the break. And the young Montpellier player continued where he had started in his first international match on Wednesday - by scoring.
Thanks to Grebille and the great saves of goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer the French team forged ahead to double figures at 17:7 right before the break - an early decision of a one-sided match.
Onesta started a big rotation in the second half - but the performing level remained high, young players like Kentin Mahe left their mark, in which the host were completely without a chance. Top scorers were Guillaume Joli (6 goals for France) and Ömer Ozan Arifoglu (5 goals for Turkey).
Previous results:
Round 1:
Norway vs. Turkey 41:23 (18:12)
France vs. Lithuania 27:18 (14:11)
Group 4:
Slovakia vs. Hungary 24:28 (12:13)
Hungary made a huge, but hard-earned step towards the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark: Backed by eight goals of Laszlo Nagy the team of coach Lajos Mocsai took the victory in the traditionally highly emotional duel with neighbouring Slovakia.
Like Croatia (after winning against Latvia on Saturday), the Hungarians top the table by four points, as the Slovakian chances to proceed to the EHF EURO have been hit hard, as they still have no points on their account.
The significance of this encounter was absolutely high, so both sides showed a great fighting spirit for 60 minutes. The lead changed constantly before the break, but with Nagy as a leader, the guest team seemed to be have tipped the scales to their favourt at the intermediate score of 20:15.
But when Ferenc Ilyes received a red card after his third suspension, Slovakia came closer and were on the edge of turning the game at 23:22, before Gergö Ivancsik ended a nine-minute period in which the Hungarians did not score.
In the final stages Gergely Harsanyi sealed the fate of the host by his late goals. Best Slovak scorer was Oliver Rabek with five goals.
Previous results:
Round 1:
Croatia vs. Slovakia 25:21 (13:8)
Hungary vs. Latvia 32:25 (18:14)
Round 2:
Latvia vs. Croatia 23:30 (12:19)
Group 5:
Ukraine vs. Poland 20:29 (11:17)
The two favourites prevail in Group 4: After Sweden took a - finally lucky - victory at the Netherlands on Saturday, now Poland also recorded their second win and top the table, equal in points with the Swedish team.
Like Netherlands, Ukraine remain without a point on their account after the first two matches.
The second victory for the new Polish coach, German-born Michael Biegler, was well-deserved and easily taken in Zaporozhye. Michal Jurecki was top scorer with six goals, followed by Wisniewski (5 goals). Mykola Stetsyura was the best Ukrainian scorer with five goals.
After an equal start (9:8) Poland took control, neutralizing the Ukrainian attackers, who only scored twice until the break.
Poland did not have to do much more in the second half to remain in a clear lead, and was only shocked once, when goalkeeper Slawomir Szmal had to leave the court after being hit by the ball in the face.
Previous results:
Round 1:
Poland vs. Netherlands 33:22 (16:8)
Sweden vs. Ukraine 27:23 (14:11)
Round 2:
Netherlands vs. Sweden 31:33 (15:17)
Group 6:
Belarus vs. Slovenia 32:32 (16:14)
Two brothers in the focus: Dzianis and Siarhei Rutenka left their mark in the high tension and high class match at Minsk. Siarhei, the elder of the two, scored ten goals, his younger brother netted seven times including the equaliser a few seconds before the final buzzer.
After the defeat against Iceland, Belarus showed an outstanding strong performance on home ground. Slovenia improved after the break but was unlucky not to take their second victory following the win against Romania.
Belarus took advantage of their rock-solid defence, achieving a comfortable 11:6-lead, before the Slovenians caught up to a two goal backlog at the break, which they then equalised quickly.
In the second half Slovenian goalkeeper Gorazd Skof saved some important shots and his team took the lead for the first time at 21:20, but could not manage to forge ahead.
In the final three minutes and after a red card for Belarusian defender Ivan Brouka the guest were ahead twice at 31:30 and 32:31, before Dzianis Rutenka sealed a well-deserved point for his team. Jure Dolenec, Gašper Marguč, Dragan Gajič and Sebastian Skube each scored five times for the Slovenians.
Romania vs. Iceland 30:37 (18:19)
Thanks to their second victory Iceland top the table in Group 6 as they are the only team with a clear record after their opening win against Belarus.
Host Romania still are on the bottom without a point after two games and already three points below the second ranked team from Slovenia.
Like against Belarus, when he netted eleven times, wing "express" Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson was the Icelandic hero, scoring ten goals this time at Piatra Neamt. Asgeir Örn Hallgrimsson added another nine goals to his tally, while Valetin Ghionnea became best Romanian shooter by six goals.
Despite the clear final result it was a tough and close fight for Iceland. Until ten minutes before the end the match was on the edge, but finally the higher speed and the better alternatives on the bench decided the match as well as strong Icelandic goalkeeper Aron Rafn Edvardsson, who saved 19 shots.
Previous results:
Round 1:
Iceland vs. Belarus 36:28 (17:13)
Slovenia vs. Romania 34:26 (16:13)
Group 7:
Bosnia Herzegovina vs. Serbia 21:24 (12:8)
After their thrilling victory against Russia, Serbia had to fight much harder in Sarajevo than expected. Host Bosnia Herzegovina was a brave fighting opponent, who was on the road to victory for a long time - but in the end the more experienced Serbs took their second victory thanks to their defence and their "minister of defence", goalkeeper Darko Stanic, who saved 16 shots including two penalties.
After the clear defeat at Austria the hosts were highly motivated to finish this neighbour's duel more successful. And they started brilliantly, as the Serbian attack had huge problems to score. Bosnia were already ahead by five goals before the break at 12:7, before the guest team came closer goal for goal.
The match turned around completely from minute 40 on - when Stanic shut up his shop. In 14 minutes Serbia conceded only one goal after being behind 13:16 - and decided the match by a brilliant 10:1 series to make it 23:17. Even though Bosnia reduced the gap to finally three goals, the Serbian victory was not threatened anymore.
Top scorers were Marko Vujin (8 goals for Serbia) and Muhammed Toromanovic, scoring six times for the Bosnians, who still have zero points on their account. Serbia top the table with four points, two points ahead of Austria and Russia.
Russia vs. Austria 38:31 (19:12)
Russia had learnt their lesson from the close defeat against Serbia on Wednesday and took revenge on the Austrians, who had started their qualification campaign with a clear victory against Bosnia Herzegovina. Both competitors are equal with two points now.
The Austrians had problems to cope with the Russian defence and the time difference of five hours in Perm. After only ten minutes the hosts were already away by 8:3 and did not let the lead slip from their hands until the final buzzer.
Even an early time-out of Austrian coach Patrekur Johanesson did not stop the downswing of his team, which were behind by seven goals already at the break.
Again counter-attack specialist Timur Dibirov was unstoppable and became top scorer with eight goals, followed by back court shooter Pavel Atman.
The only 'victory' for Austria was the 'top scorer of the match' award, won by Viktor Szylagyi, who scored nine times.
After the break the Russians saved some energies and Austrian keeper Nikola Marinovic improved, but the deal had been sealed already before.
Previous results:
Round 1:
Austria vs. Bosnia Herzegovina 35:24 (18:7)
Serbia vs. Russia 30:29 (15:12)
TEXT:
Björn Pazen / ts