Day 2 – Debrecen
DebrecenRomania overcame a six-goal deficit to win against the Czechs
The opening match of group B was full of excitement. The Romanian-Czech match was
close in the first few minutes, but then Bent Dahl's team took the lead, thanks to also
Novotna's 64% save efficiency. A little bit of more than five minutes left in the half, the
Czechs led 12-6, but then the Romanians also arrived at the game and produced a 5-1
period, closing the gap to two until the break. In the second half, Bazaliu and her teammates
chased the Czechs for a long time, finally catching them up in the 53rd minute. Then a new
match began. The Romanians, who gained a mental advantage, were able to turn the result
and did not let out the advantage they had gained. Eventually they won their opening game
to 29-28. The Czech goalkeeper, Sabrina Novotna, who made 20 saves, was voted as
Grundfos Player of the Match.
Montenegro won the South Slavic match in Group B
In the other match of Group B, Montenegro met Serbia, where we had to wait until the 7th
minute for the first goal. The following period did not bring a goal duels either, rather
technical mistakes and fouls characterized the match. During this time, however, Montenegro
built a four-goal lead, largely thanks to the good defence. At 6-2, the Serbians called a timeout, after which they managed to close to one goal. But they could not equalize, as
Suzana Lazovic's team switched to a higher pace after their timeout and increased the
difference to three goals by the break. Montenegro quickly doubled their lead at the
beginning of the second half, which they were able to maintain almost throughout. Serbia
only had moments in the second half, and they did not have a serious chance to score at
least a point. Montenegro finally won 24-18, thanks to among others Jaukovic’s performance,
who was also chosen as Grundfos Player of the Match.