After the two confident and mandatory victories – Paraguay and Cameroon – a much more difficult task, the bronze medalist of the previous European Championship, Montenegro, awaited the women’s handball players. At the moment of the draw, it was already known that this is the first key match towards the quarter-finals, which is an Olympic qualifier, if only because a victory can give wings to continue. In the past, Montenegro’s style did not suit ours, they won the 2019 World Cup. And now too.
The opponent started better, they went 3-1, but Schatzl equalized from the wing and Vámos from the middle. After goals from Mugosa and Simon Petra, Lukács found the long corner from the wing, and in the 17th minute the Hungarian team took the lead for the first time (5-4). After a breakthrough, Vámos was also effective from a man disadvantage, even though the Montenegrins’ defense was particularly tough and well organized. Since the players on both sides made many technical mistakes, the scoreboard still showed 6-4 at the end of the 20th minute.
The difference increased by one more at halftime, because Brnovic shot accurately from the substitute’s position, but on the Hungarian side, Klujber and Papp sold their chances. Böde-Bíró made sensational saves in the goal, blocked half of the shots, which gave his teammates a serious hold. We expected a good continuation with 10-7, but the second half turned into a nightmare.
After the turn, the minutes of the other goalkeeper, Batinović, followed, he caught four balls in a row – they also changed defenses – so the score became 11-11 in seconds, the advantage melted away rather quickly. In the 39th minute, Montenegro was already in the lead, because the aggressiveness and planning disappeared from the Hungarian defense, and the turnovers in attack came at the worst time. Brnovič, on the other hand, was very alive and it was already 11-14, even Golovin’s timeout could not stop the descent.
After a chilling 12-minute deadlock, Vámos finally scored. The recovery after the long short circuit could begin, because there was still a full quarter of an hour left. Böde-Bíró saved, Papp’s shot landed in the top corner, but they couldn’t catch the thread again. Since Mugosa sold his sevens flawlessly, the last ten minutes started from 14-17, and at that point you could already feel that only a miracle could help.
Pavicevic scored from the wing, Golovin asked for time, but it was not possible to organize the lines for the continuation, because Brnovic could not be kept at all, and they obviously played him on the number six. Grbic’s shots also went in. In the beginning, the only question was whether it would be possible to close the gap – Juhász did a great job, only late – because every goal can be important in the continuation.
It didn’t work, it was 24-18. The hosts are Sweden, followed by Croatia in the semi-finals, and Senegal is expected.
“The first 10 minutes of the second half defined the game and the final result. When we failed to score goals even with a man advantage, and we got it one after the other. Montenegro slowed us down, we couldn’t start, we made a lot of technical mistakes. It wasn’t a surprise from them, we were prepared for that, but we couldn’t neutralize the defender. The girls wanted, they fought, that’s how it turned out,” said Golovin to M4.
Montenegro-Hungary 24-18 (7-10)
Hungary: Böde-Bíró – Győri-Lukács 3, Klujber 2, Vámos 3, Bordás, Kuczora 1, Szöllősi-Schatzl 1, substitutions: Papp 3, Simon 2, Pásztor 1, Debreczeni-Klivinyi, Füzi-Tóvizi, Töpfner, Márton, Szemerey, Juhász 2.
Final result of the group: 1. Montenegro 6 points, 2. Hungary 4, 3. Cameroon 2, 4. Paraguay 0
2023-12-04 21:12:56
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