Slovakia had hoped for a major change, signing experienced Spaniard Jorge Duenas as the new women’s team coach - but even he could not change everything in one week. After the second defeat against Portugal within four days, the Slovaks are out of the race for an EHF EURO 2022 ticket, still on zero points. On the other hand, the Portuguese side underlined their upswing in ambitions with a clear improvement after the break, allowing the hosts to score only seven goals. Having four points in their account now, Portugal are only two points each below Hungary and Spain, their opponents in rounds 5 and 6.