It was a one-way street from the start as Norway set an early comfortable lead. Thorir Hergeirsson's team was the main force on the court in Vienna, once again used the most out of their rotation and secured their third straight semi-final spot. Germany remain on two points in group II and lost all chances to participate at the final weekend in Vienna.
GROUP II
Norway vs Germany 32:27 (19:13)
- apart from a 1:0 lead at the start of the game, Germany were trailing throughout the game
- Norway spurred a 5:0 run early in the match and left Germany goalless for six minutes; their biggest lead was eight goals when Kari Brattset Dale netted her fourth in the game after 40 minutes, following two good saves by Katrine Lunde
- Norway's efficient attack relied on breakthroughs and easy goals, while Germany used their back court shooters more in the first 40 minutes of the game
- Germany managed to narrow the gap in the last 10 minutes with the help of Lisa Antl and Annika Lott, but not enough to jeopardise Norway's win
- Henny Reistad’s goal for 18:12 was her 120th EHF EURO goal and she ended the game with a career tally of 125, following nine scored against Germany; the Norwegian centre back was voted as Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos
- Annika Lott, Alexia Hauf, Viola Leuchter and Alina Grijseels were the best individuals for Germany, all netting four times
100th EHF EURO win secures semi-finals
Norway have missed the Women’s EHF EURO semi-finals only on two occasions – in 2000 and 2018 – in their 16 participations at the final tournament. In September 1994 they threw off the maiden EHF EURO with a win against Sweden 25:23, and eventually returned home with the bronze medal. That was the first of 13 medals in the tournament’s 30-year history to date, including a record nine gold medals.
Among their exceptional EHF EURO achievements, Norway recorded a 17-match winning run from 2018 to 2020, and between 2004 and 2010 played 27 EHF EURO matches without a single loss.
Every time Norway have raised the trophy, they have lost zero or only one game. This year, they are on an eight-game winning streak following Monday’s victory against Germany which also marked another huge milestone – their 100th EHF EURO victory in 120 games played.
It's the best feeling. We know that we had two chances to get to the semi-final, and the only thing we wanted was to make it tonight. And we did. Now we can only look forward to the final weekend. It's very exciting to see who we're going to meet there.
In the beginning we didn't find weapons against the power they had and so we go down. But then we feel free, we played with luck, with coolness, with spirit, with fun to play handball, and this was a nice performance.
