Handball – World Cup qualification: Slovakia – Belgium 26:31 – result today
yesterday at 21:46
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The Slovak handball players lost in Saturday’s retaliatory match of the 1st round of the playoffs for promotion to the World Cup 2023 on the board of Belgium 26:31.
The winner of the double match was originally supposed to compete for the seat with Russia, which they excluded from qualification after the military invasion of Ukraine. The Slovaks did not use the double goal start 28:26 from the home first match.
Petr Kukučka’s charges did not succeed in building on the successes of 2009 2011, when the Slovak national team took part in the final tournaments of the World Championships. For Belgium, this is historically the first promotion to the championship. It will take place in January in Sweden and Poland.
1st round of play-off qualification WC 2023 – second match:
Belgium – SLOVAKIA 31:26 (14:11)
Deciding: Mata, Lopez (both Šp.), Exclusions: 3: 2, 7m h: 5/5 – 1/2.
Slovakia squad and goals: Žernovič, Konečný – T. Urban 5, Slaninka 5, L. Urban 3, Ďuriš 2, Kalafut, Kováčech 3, Briatka 1, Macháč, Mikita, Imprint 1, Péchy 4, Smetánka 1, Hniďák, Birdahič 1.
Most goals of Belgium: Robyns 6, Serras, Van Cosen and Glorieux after 5.
/ first match: 26:28, Belgium advanced to the World Cup /
The Slovaks took the lead in the 2nd thanks to Slaninka. However, they lost it quite quickly, in the 1st minute: but they already lost 22 and even though they still managed to equalize, when a couple of games were already 3: 5 from their point of view after the precise interventions of Van Cosen, Serras and Glorieux. In the first half, the difference increased by three goals, Kukuček’s trustees still managed to push through the opponent’s defense and catch the goalkeeper Lettens well. The Slovak goalkeeper Žernovič, who caught almost half of the shooting attempts, also shone, but his team went to the locker room with a three-goal deficit.
The entry into the second half by the Slovak national team at all, after five goals did not work out, the games were lost by seven goals – 11:18. The answer was managed only in the 37th last to Péchy and for the last state at 12:19 a minute later the helmsman Kukučka last timeout. However, the Belgians got into the pace and continued to increase the lead, which climbed to eight goals about ten minutes before time, despite the change in the goalkeeper post, which Konečný entered. The Slovaks did not give up, but the opponent kept them at a distance, and after losing 26:31, not even a two-goal difference from the Topoľčiansky duel was enough for them.