Even though a semi-final berth was off the table for both sides, a victory for Romania would have helped them stay in the race for a ticket to the 5/6 placement match in Vienna. However, Poland had other plans for the day, proving to be the more confident team on court and finally securing their first points in the main round.
GROUP I
Romania vs Poland 24:29 (11:10)
- Poland built up their walls in defence right from the start and prevented the Romanians from scoring in the first four minutes of the game
- Barbara Zima and Raluca Kelemen made one seven-metre save each to keep the score at 6:6 before a series of technical errors by Poland helped Romania get three goals ahead; however, Poland upped the tempo to narrow the gap by the second half
- Arne Senstad’s squad had the upper hand after the break, punishing the Romanians’ mistakes and managing to keep a steady lead until the end
- Sorina Grozav was the first choice in attack, netting three times in the beginning of the match to keep the score level; she also scored a buzzer-beater to secure a one-goal advantage at the break and was Romania’s top scorer with seven successful shots
- Marlena Urbanska received a direct red card midway through the first half, following a foul on Corina Lupei; Florentin Pera also had to make do without captain Lorena Ostase in the last 15 minutes of the game, after she received her third two-minute suspension and, consequently, a red card
- Dagmara Nocun led the Polish attack with five goals and received the Player of the Match award, presented by Grundfos
Unlucky number 100 for Romania
Apart from being Romania’s 15th appearance in the competition, the Women’s EHF EURO 2024 also marks another milestone for the team — they have officially reached 100 matches played, after the one against Poland. A win today would have also brought the Romanians their 50th victory overall, but Florentin Pera’s squad still have to wait for that celebration.
The two sides were neck-and-neck until the 38th minute, when Poland’s superior defence kicked in, also helped by 11 saves from their goalkeeper duo — Adrianna Placzek and Barbara Zima. Paired with a powerful attack, with 12 Polish players on the scoresheet, Arne Senstad’s squad clinched their first points of the main round.
It was a tough match for us, especially in the second half as we didn't have enough energy to fight until the end. The first half was good for us, we tried to play good in defence and it was very good, but in the second half we didn't play together in defence and left too much space and it was hard to win this game.
It was a close game from the start, we played some good defence and again we started to make mistakes and the score was not so high, but then we continued in the second half and it was really, really good.
