December 11, 2020 - In the second match of the second round, Croatia struggles against favorite Norway (25:36).
The Croatia women's handball team met the biggest favorite of the tournament, Norway, in the second match of the second round on Saturday in Kolding, Denmark.
On Thursday, the Croatia women's handball team achieved its fourth victory in its fourth appearance at the European Championships. Recall, in the 1st round match of Group II, Croatia defeated Romania 25:20, while Norway recorded a convincing victory against the Netherlands (32:25).
Up until the match against Croatia, Norway scored 137 goals and conceded 90 in four matches. With these stats, they are the best team in the European Championship. Norway is the weakest from nine meters (13/33, 39%) and the best on counters (31/43, 72%).
Croatia and Norway started the match even - and it was 3:3 in the 4th minute. Norway took the lead in the next minute, and by the 10th minute, they were up by two (6:8). Croatia was consistently behind by two goals for most of the first half, and by the 29th minute, neither team had scored for more than 6 minutes!
Croatia went into halftime behind by one goal (14:15).
The second half started with an immediate goal for Croatia to equalize at 15:15.
There was a bit of back and forth in the minutes that followed, which saw Norway attain a three-goal advantage at 21:18 in the 37th minute. By the 39th, Croatia was behind by 4 - and by the 41st, behind by 5. In the 45th minute, Croatia was down 20:27.
Norway's momentum could not be stopped - and they were up by 10 goals in the 48th minute. Croatia was struggling to hold on.
With two minutes to go, it was 24:34, and the match ended at 25:36 for Norway.
A win against Norway would have secured Croatia a spot in the semifinals. However, even with a defeat, Croatia has a good chance of passing among the four best national teams in Europe. Only Germany can shake up Croatia's plans.
Croatia will play against Germany in the last round on Tuesday at 18:15. Germany beat Hungary 32:25 earlier today and now has four points.
Read more about Croatia handball on HRS.
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
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