The Hungarian Women’s National Handball Team beat Romania 37–29 in Group I of the main round of the 2024 European Women’s Handball Championship in Debrecen, Hungary. Hungary is one of the three co-hosts of the biannual competition, along with Austria and Switzerland.
Head coach Vladimir Golovin’s girls had bested every single opponent in the tournament leading up to the game against the national rivals. In Group A of the preliminary round, Hungary beat Sweden, North Macedonia, and Türkiye; then in the main round, they triumphed over Montenegro and Poland.
The Főnix Aréna in Debrecen was packed for the big game against Romania. Interestingly, the Hungarian women’s handball team hosted the same rivals in the very same venue at the 2004 and 2014 Euros as well—the home side emerged the victor at the end both times.
This time, Hungary only needed to avoid a loss to secure their place in the semi-final in Vienna, Austria on Friday. And with time, it became more and more likely that they would achieve that objective. By half time, the Hungarian side was leading 20–15.
There was no point in the second half when Romania was able to capture the lead, which grew to a seven-goal advantage by the 47th minute. In the end, the scoreline ended in 37–29 for the home side. Right-back Katrin Klujber of Ferencváros had the most prolific evening, scoring an impressive 10 goals in the game; followed by right wing Viktória Győri-Lukács of Győri ETO on the Hungarian side, who scored five.
With that, Hungary remain one of the two teams in the competition with a perfect record, winning six out of six games. The other team is France—whom Hungary are facing in the last main round game in Group I on Tuesday, 10 December.
‘Hungary has already qualified for the semi-finals of the European Championship, for the first time in 12 years’
Other than holding onto the perfect record, however, there will not be anything crucial at stake. Hungary has already qualified for the semi-finals of the European Championship, for the first time in 12 years.
‘It was a game like any other,’ Head Coach Golovin said after the great victory, as quoted by the Hungarian sports daily Nemzeti Sport.
‘Everyone knows what their job is, nothing is given to anyone for free. If we want something, we have to go and earn it. The players understood that. The outside circumstances have evidently affected the team. However, what’s important is that on that 40-by-20-metre court, everyone focuses on what their job is. We have managed to stick to that, and not just in this game, but also in all the other games so far…France is our next task, the girls received the video material about them late last night, they’ll watch it in the morning, they’ll study it,’ he went on to say.
Hungary will face either Denmark or Norway in the semi-final for a place in the final on Sunday in Vienna.
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