Another impressive performance from Cristina Neagu paved the way for Romania to qualify for EHF EURO 2022. The four-time IHF Player of the Year scored 12 goals in the against Austria to steer her side to second place.
A draw with less than 33 goals (after the 33:33 in the first leg) would have been enough for the Romanians on Sunday, but Neagu’s performance provided Romania with their third and decisive victory in the group.
GROUP 2
Romania vs Austria 38:29 (19:13)
- it took Cristina Neagu 37 minutes to score 10 times, having scored eight times in the first half
- the hosts started with a perfect 5:1 run, but Austria levelled the result at 8:8 - before Romania hit back to make a decisive 11:5 run up to the break
- with the result secured Neagu could rest a bit and coach Adrian Vasile gave more playing time to other players - but the clear victory was never endangered
- while Austria miss out, they qualify automatically as co-hosts (with Hungary and Switzerland) for EHF EURO 2024
Romania have their 14th EHF EURO to come
Romania have missed only one Euros and that was in 2006, since when they enjoyed their best result which was a bronze-medal winning showing in 2010.
In 2018 they reached the semi-finals but Neagu’s absence meant they finished fourth. They will be aiming to improve on their 12th place finish from 2020.
