Vienna (AFP)
Spain and Croatia are very close to the semi-finals of the Euro handball after their fifth victory in five games on Saturday in Vienna, respectively against Austria (30-26) and Germany (25-24).
The defending Spaniards and the Croats have two more games to play in this main round, but they should qualify in their next match on Monday against Belarus and the Czech Republic.
The Croats won in extremis after being led for almost the entire match, with up to 5 goals away at the start of the second period (12-17). They nibbled on their delay to take the lead just 90 seconds from the end and keep it thanks to a stop by Marin Sego, the Montpellier goalkeeper. Semi-center Igor Karacic was the top scorer of the match with 7 goals.
The Iberian selection suffered much less, even if it was hung for about 35 minutes (20-19) before flying away (6 goals ahead 5 minutes from the end) thanks to its defense and its wingers Aleix Gomez and Angel Fernandez. Jorge Maqueda was the top scorer of the match with 6 goals.
The Austrians logically suffered their second defeat in a row after having started with three victories in a weak first pool. They will find it very difficult to return to the race for the last four.
Belarus retained a small chance, especially theoretical, by dominating the Czech Republic 28 to 25.
© 2020 AFP