20.10.2011, 11:16
Clear home victories

Both favourites, Spain and Sweden, won their first round duels of the EHF EURO qualification without problems.

Clear home victories

On Day 2 of Round 1, the great run of favourites continued with Spain and Sweden both winning their home matches in a clear manner.

Group 5



Sweden vs. Slovenia 27:20 (15:10)

Around 1900 spectators witnessed a clear Scandinavian victory in Skövde and as the Czech Republic will be Sweden´s next opponent, the two winners will face each other on Saturday to decide the leader position in the group.

The engine of the Swedish National Team, Johanna Ahlm, had a nice return, about 16 months after her last NT match. Ahlm became the best player of the game with five goals, among them two 7-m shots. The Scandinavians had massive problems in the early phase, as Slovenia made a dream start with a 5:1 lead. Swedish Cecilie Grubbström had a weak beginning, but all of a sudden she shut the gate and her side produced a 5:0 serie and turned the match.

Tone Tiselj´s Slovenian side kept the game at eye for a couple more minutes, but then the Swedish train started to roll, the Scandinavians pulled away, and were never threatened. Ahlm and her colleagues controlled the Slovenians well. The defence stood strong and the attacking worked with superb combinations and finesse. On the Slovenian side, Ana Gros was top scorer with four goals.

Group 7



Spain vs. Iceland 27:22 (13:9)

Favourite Spain were dominating the match against Iceland and won in a clear manner. After defeating the Scandinavians, National Team coach Jorge Dueñas said that "it was very important to start the EHF EURO qualification with a victory, although it´s true that the taste is not so good, because the final difference in the score could have been higher."

At yesterday´s press conference, Dueñas rightly pointed out that the defence would be the key element to break the well-combining Icelandic team. And so it has been, "the defence has performed very well, although the game has slowed down for the dying minutes, resulting in a reduction of the gap. In any case, against Iceland you´re not allowed any fluctuations, they are a tough team to beat."

In the offensive work, the national coach has highlighted the great contribution of the Itxako back-court with Nerea Pena and Macarena Aguilar, top scorer of the duel with 6 goals. Dueñas also praised the quality defence with Andrea Barnó, Patricia Elorza and Vanessa Amorós. On the Icelandic side Birna Haraldsdottir and Hanna Gudrun Stefansdottir were the top scorers with 5 goals each.

Round 2 will follow this weekend and will complete the first third of Qualification 2 for the major European tournament in the Netherlands 2012.


Further Information

Find more information on the Women's EHF EURO 2012 Qualification HERE.

View more detailed information on the event on the Official EHF EURO 2012 Website.
www.ehf-euro.com/NED2012/

Join the growing community of fans of the event on Facebook!
www.facebook.com/NED2012

TEXT: Márk Hegedüs