Team spirit gives Bazaliu and Romania confidence

Expectations were low for Romania ahead of the tournament, taking into account their recent results in international competitions: a disappointing 12th place at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship and in the last two editions of the European championship. However, Florentin Pera’s squad took everyone by surprise when they grabbed a win against Sweden, after being in control of the match right from the start.

“I am happy and proud of the team that we got this victory,” says Bianca Bazaliu, who was crowned Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, with eight strikes for the Romanians.

“To be honest I don’t think we were regarded as favourites in any of the matches,” confesses the left back, who is well aware of the criticism they faced. Before coming to Debrecen, Romania took part in two friendly tournaments, in which they managed to get only one win in six matches, losing to Brazil and four other EHF EURO 2024 contenders — Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.

But staying focused on the next objective is key. “After the Golden League nobody gave us any chances. I choose not to read comments and news, especially when I am playing in a tournament,” adds Bazaliu.

Romania brought a young squad to the competition, having to count on several inexperienced players to fill in for bigger names — such as Cristina Neagu, Crina Pintea and Eliza Buceschi — who decided to step down from the national team. Despite a new and rebuilt group, the team spirit is strong and helped them perform against Sweden.

“I’m happy if we aren’t favourites, but still manage to win. We can continue like this. I think the unity of the group and the fact that we didn’t give up until the end helped us the most. I will continue to say that the beautiful atmosphere that we have also helps us,” explains Bazaliu, who did not have the chance to celebrate with her teammates after the game.

“I missed the celebrations, for the second time. I saw some footage, but I arrived in the lockers pretty late. The first time was in the match against Czechia,” she adds, hoping for more opportunities like this.

The secret to their win? A tight-knit group and unconditional support within the team. Bazaliu is regarded as one of the most promising players of her generation, having been part of the squad that won gold at the 2014 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship. However, she finds confidence in knowing that her colleagues have her back.

“I think that we are one of the youngest teams in the competition, but we showed maturity and calmness yesterday. I don’t feel any pressure because I know I have my teammates next to me and that matters the most. I don’t think we can work one without the other at the moment,” she admits.

On the way to the main round, Romania grabbed two victories, against Czechia and Serbia. Both times, the players proved they can work well under pressure, mounting comebacks to secure the wins.

“Last night I was talking to one of my teammates and I told her that after being ahead for most of the match, I can’t accept defeat. In the two matches against Czechia and Serbia we worked really hard each time to get back in the game and we always did that towards the end. I like this feeling more than chasing a draw or the lead,” highlights the ambitious 27-year-old left back, while also recognising the mental effort that it took to keep the pace.

“I am very happy that we didn’t collapse, especially in the end, when you start feeling tired and feel the pain. I think that we dealt with it really well.”

Bazaliu scored a total of 28 goals for Romania in the first five games, nine of them in the opening clash against the Czechs. She is quite used to the pressure, as back in 2022 she managed a remarkable buzzer-beater to seal the win in front of Spain. Reminiscing about that victory, the Romanian talks about the importance of giving everything for her team.

“All that I want is to help my team, no matter what, both in attack and defence. I want to support them and I think this matters the most,” she says.

Halfway through the main round, Romania are on four points with two games left to play, against Hungary and Poland. The Hungarians have been enjoying a fantastic season so far, keeping their perfect record throughout the tournament, but this does not minimise Bazaliu’s confidence in Romania’s potential.

“First of all, I trust my team because we proved that we can. Now we have a very difficult match against Hungary, then the one versus Poland. We need to take every match step by step, recover and then we will see what happens. Everybody wants points. I want the best team to win,” reveals the Romanian.

On Sunday, both sides expect to count on plenty of support from the stands — the proximity of the two countries has attracted many passionate Romanian fans to the Fönix Arena in Debrecen, which brought new energy to the team.

“I’ve said it before, I feel like home here. We’ve had so much support from the fans. In the match against Czechia they were amazing, they gave us so much power, at least to me, but to my teammates as well. They were there when we needed them the most and that mattered a lot,” says Bazaliu.

“I want to thank them for supporting us and coming to watch us play. We are waiting for them at the next matches as well.”

The next game will be crucial for Romania, who are part of a tight group I with world champions France and co-hosts Hungary as joint leaders with six points each. Nothing is decided yet and Bianca Bazaliu chooses to stay optimistic.

“I think that you can find something to improve for every match. All that I want is to stay in good health, because sometimes tiredness can get in the way. But we still have two or three matches, it depends. Who knows, maybe even more. But first of all we need to focus on the match against Hungary and give everything,” concludes the Romanian left back.

Romania and Hungary will meet for the 11th time at the EHF EURO on Sunday 8 December at 18:00 CET, after the Hungarians claimed victories in eight of the previous encounters.

Photos © EHF/kolektiff