It was the first match for the Czech Republic under their new head coach Rastislav Trtik and the first encounter after they had to withdraw from January’s World Championship in Egypt. Russia took a close but deserved victory as the Czechs stormed back into contention late on, before Igor Soroka sealed the deal.

GROUP 3
Russia vs Czech Republic 28:27 (14:13)

• Russia remain on top with five points and after two victories and a draw, while the Czechs played and lost their first EHF EURO 2022 qualifier.
• a 10:9 lead was the last time the Czechs were ahead in what was a tight first half
• Russia’s crucial period was a 5:1 run midway through the second half
• Sergei Kosorotov was Russia’s top scorer in the second half, finding the back of the net five times after only one goal before the break
• though Russia were restricted to two goals in the last seven minutes, the time was ticking against the Czechs, who fell just short with a late comeback

Trtik at the wheel

Rastislav Trtik’s second spell in charge of Czech Republic begins with a defeat.

Trtik came in as an interim successor of Jan Filip and Daniel Kubes, who lost their jobs after missing out on the World Championship in Egypt due to the team being decimated with COVID-19 issues. 

The Slovak coach, who had spells with Tatran Presov in his home country, Banik Karvina and Frydek in the Czech Republic and MT Melsungen among others, will take some signs of hope from the game before the two sides meet again on Sunday.