Norway undefeated through the EHF Euro Cup
The EHF Euro Cup plays at the same time as the other nations play qualification for the European Championships. Norway is already ready as the reigning European champion, and thus participates in the tournament together with the host countries Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Slovenia. The tournament serves as a match offer for the teams that qualify for the championship.
Emilie Hegh Arntzen was the only real veteran in the squad after a dozen players were released, so there were many fresh long-range players and possible hopeful debutants against Northern Macedonia. This was the second match where Arntzen leads the team as captain.
Norway had won all their 5 matches earlier in this tournament, at the same time as Northern Macedonia had lost all theirs. On Thursday, Norway won 24-18 in Northern Macedonia.
The North Macedonian team has struggled to qualify for the championship, and has not participated since the European Championships in Serbia in 2012. Now they will finally participate again as arranged in November.
It was not quite the start Norway had hoped for, and the first time was something like the match on Thursday. The round was characterized by technical errors and girls were in many cases saved by a good Rikke Granlund in the Norwegian goal, which ended in 7 saves, against one of Northern Macedonia.
A fight that is not handled about death and life in terms of results, but still a great opportunity for the younger girls who want to get involved. Norway seemed a bit tied in when they won the ball, in a match they had to set the pace. But there were high expectations related to how the national team would respond to the performance in the second half. It was a small frustrated Thorir Hergeirsson who stood on the sidelines. Norway of course had a team that was not used to playing together before.
One of the flashes from the first half was the brilliant jump-in of Thale Rushtfeldt Deila, who did a lot right.
In the second half, it was another debutant from this week who really got skinny. Kristina Novak finished with 9 goals in just 10 shots. A player who really got to show herself after she had 0 goals in 4 attempts on Thursday. This time she was named the best player on the field.
Norway thus ended up with 6 victories out of 6 possible, and became winners of the EHF Euro Cup. Organizer Northern Macedonia ended up with the same number of losses. A sloppy first half was followed by lower shoulders and a strong performance in the second half. Norway thus ends in style a tournament that has led to good experiences for many new players and debutants who have become familiar with what it is like to be part of such a national team gathering.
Norway’s matches thus ended as follows:
07.10 Norway – Slovenia (Nadderud Arena, Norway) 29.-17
10.10 Slovenia – Norway (Arena Stožice, Slovenia) 21.-26.
02.03 Montenegro – Norway (Bemax Arena, Montenegro) 27.-32
05.03 Norway – Montenegro (Jotron Arena Larvik, Norway) 40-23
21.04 Northern Macedonia – Norway (Skopje, Northern Macedonia) 18.-24.
24.04 Norway – Northern Macedonia (Nadderud Arena, Norway) 30-30
EHF Euro Cup
Norway – Northern Macedonia 32-27 (14-14)
Nadderud Arena
Norway’s top scorer: Kristina Novak, 9
Northern Macedonia’s top scorer: Sanja Dabevska, 5
Expulsions: Norway: 4×2 min – Northern Macedonia: 3×2 min
See full match report here.