17.06.2017, 08:31
Group leaders Sweden and Spain dismantle opponents

ROUND REVIEW: Thanks to a 46:16 win over Finland, Spain maintained their clean run of victories, while Sweden easily defeated Slovakia.

Group leaders Sweden and Spain dismantle opponents

On Saturday, Spain scored more goals in a single qualification match than any other team since the implementation of the current qualification system, which was implemented for the Men’s EHF EURO 2012.

The previous record was the 44:29 Icelandic victory against Austria in the EHF EURO 2012 qualification, however, Spain have now made history with a 46:16 victory against Finland.

Since the current qualification system started in the autumn of 2010, teams have only scored more than 40 goals six times.

In the current qualification for Croatia, the previous highest number of goals was 43, scored by Norway on Wednesday, when they won 43:27 in Belgium.

Thanks to this record-breaking win, Spain finish their qualification matches with a clean record of six wins from six matches.

On the other hand, Sweden took their fifth win in their sixth match by beating Slovakia 31:17. Both sides had been confirmed group winners before their last qualification matches on their way to Croatia.

Group 3:

Spain vs Finland 46:16 (27:9)

The Finnish nightmare had started right from the beginning: With less than ten minutes played, Spain were already ahead 9:1. After 15 minutes the lead reached double-digits at 14:4, and after 22 minutes, the hosts had already scored 20 goals.

Right after the break, the gap continued to widen to 20 goals at 29:9.

Young Spanish players such as Adrian Figueras (top-scorer with eight goals), Ferran Sole Sala (7 goals) and Dani Dujshebaev (5 goals) caused trouble for the visitors. Benni Broman was Finnish top-scorer with four goals.

Thanks to this impressive result, Spain finished the qualification round with a goal difference of +72.

Sweden vs Slovakia 31:17 (14:7)

After Montenegro had tied with Russia, Sweden were confirmed group winners before the start of their match with Slovakia.

But the rejuvenated Scandinavians, under head coach Kristjan Andresson, were eager to show their fans another great performance and to secure their fifth victory in their sixth qualification match.

Backed by the counter attack goals from wingers Mattias Zachrisson and Jerry Tollbring, the hosts easily forged an 8:3 lead and had decided the one-sided encounter by half-time, when the score was 14:7.

The Slovaks did not have the means to get through the strong Swedish defence, so they only score their tenth goal after 39 minutes, when the score was 19:10.

The biggest gap in the game between the teams was 16 goals.

 Top-scorers were Mattias Zachrisson, Jerry Tollbring and Niklas Ekberg, each of whom scored five goals.

The Slovaks finished their qualification matches without a victory and only two draws.

TEXT: Björn Pazen/kc