Sweden booked their place at the EHF EURO 2022 with a commanding 23:31 win versus Romania in the first group 8 match on Wednesday evening.

With the victory, the Scandinavian side took their points tally to eight, which cannot be passed by either Kosovo or Romania. Sweden are therefore assured of at least a top-two finish on the table.

GROUP 8
Romania vs Sweden 23:31 (7:14)

• Sweden created a clear lead of seven goals in the first half and had little trouble building to a convincing victory
• after 3:3 at the 10-minute mark, Romania endured a decisive period of 12 minutes without a goal, seeing their visitors pull ahead to 3:10 — and the hosts could not come back from that point
• Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Palicka had a magnificent outing, with a 67 per cent save rate after 20 minutes and a tally of 13 saves at full-time
• with the result, Sweden are sure of a place at the final tournament in Hungary and Slovakia. The remaining question is whether they will top the table
• Romania will play Montenegro in their last match of the qualifiers on Sunday, while Sweden meet Montenegro on Friday and Kosovo on Sunday

The year of Palicka

Andreas Palicka is having a superb year as the sole lead in goal for the national team and was critical once again as Sweden took command against Romania.

In January, he played a key role in Sweden securing their first World Championship medal in two decades, was named in the World Championship All-star Team and even starred as ESPN SportCenter’s top play of the day with one of his most spectacular saves in Egypt.