Portugal’s second win ends Slovak hopes

GROUP 5:
Slovakia vs Portugal 21:23 (14:12) 

• after the 21:24 in the reverse fixture on Thursday, Slovakia were under huge pressure, but managed to stay ahead in the first half 
• mainly goalkeeper Adriana Medvedova (13 saves in total) was the key for the 14:12 half time lead of the hosts 
• as Portugal improved in defence and goalkeeper Isabel Gois stood like a wall, the hosts had problems scoring, netting only three times in the first 20 minutes of the second half 
• the consequence was Portugal’s first lead in the whole match, 18:17, in minute 46, which they extended to 20:17 - and kept until the end 
• Nikoletta Trunkova and Maria Ines da Silva Perreira were best scorers with six goals each 

Another historic day for Portugal 

It was 21 March 2012, it was a 30:18 win at Greece - and it was Portugal’s last away victory in the final qualification round for a Women’s EHF EURO. Ten years later, Portugal again returned home from an away much with two points after winning 23:21 at Slovakia. Already their 24:21 on home ground on Thursday was historic, as it ended a six-year wait for another victory. Portugal now have four points on their account after four rounds - and they can hope for their first EHF EURO ticket since 2008, but they still need to beat Spain and Hungary in the upcoming matches.