December 10, 2020 – The Croatia women’s handball team defeated Romania in the second round of the European Championship on Thursday, bringing them one step closer to the semifinals.
The Croatia women’s handball team began the second round of the European Championship against Romania in Kolding, Denmark on Tuesday after three incredible victories in the group stage against Hungary, the Netherlands, and Serbia.
While Croatia was behind for the first 20 minutes of the match, they equalized at 8:8 in the 21st minute and only went up from there. By the 27th minute, it was 12:9 for Croatia, and the first half ended with them up by 4 (14:10)!
Croatia’s momentum continued in the second half, with brilliant saves by Tea Pijevic in goal. It was 15:11 for Croatia in the 34th minute, and 17:12 just three minutes later! In the 41st minute, Croatia still had a 5-goal advantage – and in the 44th minute, it was 19:15.
Romania reduced their lead to 19:17 in the 48th minute, forcing Croatia to call a timeout.
A goal moments later put Croatia back up to +3, and with just over 10 minutes to go, it was crucial for the girls to hold onto this advantage.
In the 52nd minute, it was 21:17 for Croatia, and in the 54th minute, 22:18. Tea Pijevic was stellar in goal with another save in the 56th minute, and with three minutes to go, it was 23:19 for Croatia. A five-goal advantage for Croatia with two minutes to go nearly sealed their victory, though they remained solid in the defense to avoid a dramatic finish.
With less than one minute to go, Romania’s final attack failed. Croatia scored the final goal of the match for the 25:20 victory!
With this victory, Croatia writes another beautiful page in handball history, because they have never achieved four consecutive wins at the European Championship. Croatian had never defeated Romania at the European Championships either, and in four games played before this, Romania won each time.
Romania is a national team with an extremely rich tradition and three world champion titles, though it was a long time ago – in 1956, 1960, and 1962. They also have two silver medals from the World Championship. Romania’s last medals were won in Denmark – bronze from the European Championship in 2010 (then Norway was also a co-host) and bronze from the World Championship in 2015.
To read more about Croatia handball, follow the official website of the Croatian Handball Federation.
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.