Huge battle, head to head for the two national teams – Follow us for the Hungary-Iceland Handball European Championship!
Máté Lékai can still fight for the semi-finals with an anti-Iceland match tonight, but the formula is not simple:
you would have to win by at least two goals against the hitherto flawless Iceland, but in a lucky draw, a draw could be enough to advance.
However, if, after the Hungarian-Icelandic match, the Netherlands defeats Portugal last in a group match starting at 9:30 a.m., the Hungarians’ semi-final dreams will be lost.
Before the match, the federal captain István Gulyás spoke confidently to M4 Sport. He said the team was starting to “put in” the arena.
According to the decision of the professional staff, Mikler Roland, who is preparing for the 32nd European Championship match, can start the game at the goal. In this respect, only Gergő Iváncsik precedes him in the history of the Hungarian national team.
The match started with an Icelandic goal, Bjarki Már Elísson hit the goal, but the answer came quickly from Zoltán Szita.
After the second attack in Iceland, Mikler’s first defense – the good play of the Pick Szeged net guard – will be key. The support of more than 20,000 Hungarian fans will also be needed, but they have not been complained about before by the national team.
In the seventh minute, after a turn, Bóka took the lead in the Hungarian team for the first time with a goal (4–3), although the Icelanders quickly equalized (4–4).
As can be expected, the Icelandic shooters are in good shape and neutralizing them is not an easy task for the Hungarian quarterback. After the first 10 minutes, head to head with the two teams, one leading and the other leading.
Sixteen minutes of Iceland-Hungary play 11-10, followed by Mikler’s shot, which deflected Magnusson’s shot.
After the first quarter hour, the Icelanders can attack several times in the lead, and with their fast turns, they scored easy goals. Both goalkeepers started the match well, with Iceland net keeper Gústavsson on four defenses and Mikler Roland on three.
For the sole purpose of:
the Hungarian national team has met Iceland 42 times so far, of which we have won 25 times with 14 defeats and three draws.
We had to wait until the 22nd minute for the first seven meters, but Magnusson defended his penalty with the bravura of Márton Székely! Immediately after that, the Hungarian response came, thus changing the position to 14-14. Therefore, such defenses are very important psychologically.
Towards the end of the first half, Pick Szeged, Bence Bánhidi is the most successful Hungarian player with four goals. Máthé Dominik has three hits and Méké Lékai has two hits. In the Icelanders, Magnusson, Gudjonsson and Kristjansson have 4-4 goals alike.
The statistics also show the balance of the game: Iceland scored 16 goals in 22 attempts, Hungary scored 16 goals in 23 shots.
The Icelandic coach was the first to request time in the 28th minute, just over two minutes before the end of the first half. Every goal completed with a goal counts, so it would be very important for the halftime haircut to succeed!
One minute before the end of the half, István Gulyás also took advantage of his first time-out opportunity: Richárd Bodó threw his goal in the last seconds and ended in a draw with the first half. The first thirty minutes brought a balanced fight to the extreme,
position at mid-term: Iceland-Hungary 17-17
Iceland could start the second half with a quick penalty to give them the advantage again (18-17). A minute later, Bence Bánhidi equalizes (18-18). seems,
neither team is able to advance more than one goal from the other.
So far, our record is 35 goals, which we scored at the European Championships, especially for Iceland, back in 2005. That would be needed now – and a slightly better, more precise defense.
Marci Székely starts the half well, after a previous seven-meter pass, he is now defending two parades.
After a long time, the Hungarian team leads again in the 35th minute (20–19), Máté Lékai found a human advantage in the goal.
Follow the match live on M4 Sport and the online stream of M4Sport.hu with us!
Cover photo: the players of the Hungarian national team before the Hungary-Portugal match in the MVM Dome of Budapest on January 16, 2022 in the B-group of the European Men’s Handball Championship (Photo: MTI / Tamás Kovács)
