Bosnia and Herzegovina still have to wait for their first ever point at EHF EURO final tournaments after losing their opener in this championship in Bratislava.
After three defeats at their debut in 2020, they failed to land a blow against another top nation in their opener of group E and this defeat was their biggest yet an EHF EURO.
Sweden – boosted by the saves of goalkeeper Peter Johannesson, the Grundfos Player of the Match, underlined their medal ambitions by a comfortable 30:18 victory in the first ever EHF EURO match against Bosnia and Herzegovina before the top duel against Spain on Saturday.
GROUP E
Sweden vs Bosnia and Herzegovina 30:18 (17:11)
- right from the start, Sweden put the pedal to the medal with their strong defence and counter-attack match play, pulling ahead to 5:1 and 10:4
- the two wing players Hampus Wanne (five goals) and Niclas Ekberg (three) were the keys for the 17:11 lead at half-time, scoring almost 50 percent of the Swedish goals before the break
- their advantage meant Sweden coach Glenn Solberg could rotate from minute 20 on to give all players playing time and to save some power of his regulars including as Jim Gottfridsson for the crucial match against Spain on Saturday. After the break, an extremely young line-up was on court
- the Bosnians, who had to replace four key players due to positive COVID tests, tried hard, but never could danger the World Championship 2021 silver medallists
- the 27:17 score-line was the first double-digit advantage for Sweden and the biggest ever EHF EURO defeat for Bosnia and Herzegovina, eclipsing the 23:31 against France in 2020 in Trondheim
Hampus Wanne on fire
Like in the EHF Champions League for his club SG Flensburg-Handewitt or in the previous national team competitions for Sweden, Hampus Wanne is a true asset in attack. The left wing and counter-attack specialist was in question before the Swedish opener of the EHF EURO 2022 after a positive Covid test.
But right from the start, the goal machine was on fire against the Bosnians. His five goals before the break paved the way to the early decision in a one-sided match. After his sixth goal, Wanne’s shift already ended in minute 38, getting replaced by youngster Emil Mellegard.
"I am really happy with the first half when we played with a very good defence and goalkeepers, and we could run some nice counter-attacks. After the break, the Bosnians played long attacks, but we were prepared and our goalkeeper Peter Johannesson was very good. We are happy with the win," said Swedish line player Max Darj.
"There is not much to say about today’s game. Even without our problems Sweden were the favourites. We have to take the positive things like our young players who got experience. In the next matches we hopefully can use this experience,” commented line player Mirsad Terzic.
