Malmö (Sweden) (AFP)
The Spanish handballers, thanks to their draw against Croatia (22-22), completed the main round on Wednesday in the lead of their group and will face Slovenia in the semi-finals of Euro-2020, while the Croats will have to undo Norway.
The shock of the last day of the main lap between Spaniards and Croats, both undefeated at this Euro, kept all its promises in the Wiener Stadhalle in Vienna. The challenge was to avoid second place in the group, and therefore Norway in the semi-finals.
In a meeting of very high intensity and very close in the first period (12-11 for the Spanish), Spain thought to have taken shelter by taking off after returning from the locker room (19-13, 41st), carried by an excellent Alex Dujshebaev (four goals in seven minutes).
The defenders of the European title lost in intensity, opening a breach for the Croats who rushed in brilliantly, notably thanks to Igor Karacic (10 achievements out of 12 attempts), named man of the meeting.
Domagoj Duvnjak gave the Croats the lead two minutes from the end (22-21), but Aleix Gomez converted his second seven-meter throw to secure a draw (22-22) and first place for his team.
In the other group, Norway's Sander Sagosen, vice-champion of the world in 2017 and 2019, signed her 5th victory in the main round in as many games, winning in Malmö (Sweden) against Slovenia (33-30 ), who was assured of his ticket for the last four before even stepping on the ground, thanks to the reverse of Hungary.
Portugal, which corrected Hungary 34 to 26, took 3rd place in the group behind Norway and Slovenia. A result which ensures him a place in one of the three Olympic qualification tournaments in three months (April 17-19).
Semi-finals program:
Friday in Stockholm
(6:00 p.m.) Spain - Slovenia
(8:30 p.m.) Norway - Croatia
© 2020 AFP