Vienna (AFP)
Spain and Croatia started the main round of the Euro handball with victories over the Czech Republic and Austria on Thursday in Vienna and are in an ideal position to reach the semi-finals with four successes in as many of matches.
The Spanish easily mastered the Czech Republic 31 to 25 thanks in particular to 11 stops by Barcelona goalkeeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas. They had the gap at the break (14-9) with a big defense before proceeding in the second period.
The Croats won 27-23, ending the good streak for the Austrians, who had won their three first round matches in a weak group (Czech Republic, Macedonia, Ukraine).
The scenario was the same as in the previous match: Croatia made the difference in the first period by stifling the opposing attack (13-8) and then controlled the situation after half-time.
The Spaniards and the Croats are favorites to win the two places in the last square. The games will be made, or almost, as of Saturday if Spain beats Austria and Croatia dominates Germany.
In the meantime, the Germans have preserved hope by dominating Belarus 31 to 23 with 12 stops by Andreas Wolff.
In Malmö, the main round will begin on Friday with Slovenia-Iceland, Norway-Hungary and Portugal-Sweden in a group with unexpected composition after the premature eliminations of Denmark and France, gold and bronze medalists of the World Cup ago a year.
© 2020 AFP