Day 7 – Debrecen
DebrecenSmooth Swedish victory after a tight first half
In the first match of the main round in Debrecen, the Swedish team met the Poles, who sent
home the Spaniards. At the beginning of the match, two-minute penalties fell more frequently
than goals. After three minutes, only one goal was scored in addition to three penalties.
Fortunately, this ratio was reversed in the continuation and beautiful solutions came to the
fore. At that time, it seemed that the Swedes would easily win the match, as they quickly
gained a four-goal lead. However, after the Polish timeout, the picture of the game changed,
and Poland caught up their opponent at 7-7. The rest of the half was close, with neither side
able to gain a lead of more than one goal, except for the last minute. At that time, Bundsen
scored two empty-net goals, so Sweden led 17-15 at the break. At the beginning of the
second half, Tomas Axnér’s team performed quite well and by the 44th minute had pretty
much decided the main part of the match. At that point, the Nordic team had an eight-goal
lead, which they were able to maintain until the end of the match, thus celebrating a 33-25
victory. Jamina Roberts, who scored six goals, was awarded as Grundfos Player of the
Match.
Romania made things difficult for France
In the second match of the day, France played against Romania in Debrecen. Despite the
French starting the match well and quickly taking the lead with three goals, the Romanians
could equalize halfway through the half. After that the French team switched to a higher gear
and led by Kanor, pulled away again, to which Constantin Pera’s students were unable to
respond for the rest of the first thirty minutes. France led 12-9 at the break, which they
increased further at the beginning of the second half. But Romania was able to gradually
work off its five-goal deficit, so everything started all over again in the 42nd minute. The rest
of the game brought a close clash, once the score was tie, once France had the advantage.
This is how the teams turned to the crunch time, where Nze Minko and her teammates took
advantage of Bazaliu’s 2-minutes suspension and built a four-goal difference by the 55th
minute. The Romanians did everything they could to score at least a point, but the French
team did not assist them and thanks to their greater experience, they eventually won their
first game in Debrecen easily, 30-25. Chloé Valentini, who scored six goals, was awarded as
Grundfos Player of the Match.
The Hungarian national team remains flawless
In the evening match, two group winners, Hungary and Montenegro faced off. At the
beginning of the match, the Hungarian national team had a hard time due to Montenegro’s
defence and Rajcic’s performance in the goal. Suzana Lazovic’s team took advantage of this
in attack and after six minutes they led 6-2. In the continuation, the Hungarians played
increasingly effective handball, and their defence also came together, which had the result.
Vladimir Golovin’s team turned the game around by producing a 6-0 period. The Hungarian
national team, playing in front of the home crowd, further increased the difference until the
break, after Kuczora’s goal, the scoreboard was 16-11. The first fifteen minutes of the second
half brought a fluctuating performance. First, Montenegro closed to three, then the
Hungarians stepped forward again with six. The following period was mainly about Szemerey
and Attingre, both goalkeepers made more and more beautiful saves. During this time, the difference did not change substantially and turning to the last minutes, only the exact final
result was a question. The Hungarian national team finally won against Montenegro 26-20.
Zsófi Szemerey, who made 15 saves, was awarded as Grundfos Player of the Match.