Another Kosovo sensation, Serbia and Belarus keep hopes alive

After the Greece draw against Iceland earlier tonight, the next sensation occurred in Round 5 of the EHF EURO 2020 qualification: Kosovo were highly close to their second-ever victory in the final stage of an EHF EURO qualification, but Poland took a lucky draw with a buzzer-beater in the Kosovan capital, Pristina.

Serbia and Belarus grabbed important wins on their way to the EHF EURO 2020, but have not qualified yet.

After 11 matches on the first day of Round 5, seven out of 16 teams have qualified for the Men’s EHF EURO 2020: Germany, Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary and Denmark.

GROUP 1

Kosovo vs Poland 23:23 (14:13)

Poland were extremely shaken, but still have their fate in their hands after grabbing a draw in Kosovo.

After scoring the final two goals in the last 20 seconds after being down 23:21, Poland snatched a draw with their hosts as both sides moved on to three points each in their account before the final round of matches.

On Sunday, Poland only need to beat Israel (currently on four points) on home ground to finish second and book their EHF EURO ticket, while Kosovo have the extremely high hurdle to clear of Germany away.

Tonight, the home side were incomparable to the one which was defeated 37:13 in Poland in Round 1. The team of Taip Ramadani has clearly improved in the last few games with Poland just once ahea in the match, at 2:1.

He watched his side stand strong in defence and keep full control of the match, mainly in the middle of the second half, when they were ahead 20:16 and 20:17 – an advantage which lasted heartbreakingly until 59:59, when Poland levelled the score.

Enis Kabashi and Valon Dedaj (both Kosovo) and Michal Potoczny (Poland) were top scorers with five goals each.

GROUP 2

Belgium vs Serbia 26:37 (10:20)

After two defeats and two draws, Serbia took their first victory in this qualification phase and one which was taken in style as they gained revenge for a 27:27 draw on home ground against the Belgians in Round 1.

With four points in their account now, they are two points below Switzerland - but a six goal win in their final duel on Sunday would propel them to the 2020 EHF EURO despite a 29:24 loss in Switzerland in Round 2.

Serbia’s success was never in danger with a 10-goal lead (16:6) built by the 23rd minute already, and after the break, the distance was constantly between 11-14 goals.

GROUP 5

Bosnia Herzegovina vs Belarus 25:31 (12:17)

Belarus are back in the race for an EHF EURO ticket following this win and not a single team have qualified through from Group 5 yet.

The hosts were only twice ahead - at 1:0 and 2:1 – before Belarus took the upper hand. Already in the middle of the first half they forged ahead to 7:3, and right after the break they had their first six-goal advance at 18:12.

Bosnia Herzegovina could not manage to get closer again and with a seven-goal deficit to catch up (27:20) late on, the result was in no doubt. Thanks to this clear away victory, Belarus have won the direct encounter between the two teams after their 30:29 loss at home in Round 1.

Below Czech Republic (eight points), the Bosnians and Belarusians are equal on six points. Most likely, one of them will belong to the four best third-ranked teams, which also qualify for 2020.

To be sure among the two best teams in this group, the Bosnians need to win in the Czech Republic by nine goals on Sunday, while Belarus need to beat Finland.