Michal Daszek

Poland grabs Norwegian gift

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Poland grabs Norwegian gift


January 26, 2016




On Saturday, Norway took Polandโ€™s destiny out of their hands. On Monday, they generously gave it back.

By Peter Bruun

Saturday night, Norway opened the gate to a historic semi-final at EURO 2016 with a sensational 30:28 win against Poland. ย Two days later the surprise team from Scandinavia returned the favor to the Polish host after a disappointing 31:31 draw against Macedonia. ย Coach Bieglerโ€™s squad quickly grabbed the gift, winning 32:27 in a โ€œmust-winโ€ game against Belarus.

Norwayโ€™s handball men want to get out of the shadow of the womenโ€™s national handball team, so badly – understandable, but they still need to learn more about what it takes to become a consistent, competitive squad. ย The match against Macedonia showed that they still have some way to go.

The impressive 30:28 win against Poland had created expectations over night and Norwayโ€™s first semi-final ever at a major championship was within reach. ย Macedonia had nothing at stake anymore. ย Of course, it is impressive to come back and earn one point after being five goals down, but it is not good enough when so much is at stake. ย Now, Norway will have to perform another miracle โ€“ this time against the defending champions from France โ€“ in their last main round match on Wednesday night in order to reach that historic semi-final after all.

Certainly, Macedonia is a tough opponent, when Kiril Lazarov has one of his better scoring days. ย In Macedoniaยดs 34:24 defeat against Croatia on Thursday evening, the star-player from Barcelona did not score a single goal and ended the match on the bench, holding his shoulder. ย Monday evening, there were no signs of shoulder problems when Lazarov scored 11 goals on 14 attempts.

One of the mysteries of the match was why Norwayโ€™s head coach Christian Berge did not order man-to-man coverage at a much earlier stage? ย When Berge finally did โ€“ after 43 minutes โ€“ it took his team exactly nine minutes to draw even at 28:28, courtesy of Kent Robin Tรธnnesen. ย Unfortunately, this was as far as Norway got and the historic semi-final is now reduced to a โ€œnice thoughtโ€.

The many Polish fans, in attendance at Krakowโ€™s Tauron Arena supported Macedonian enthusiastically during the hectic finish โ€“ realizing how much a Norwegian loss of points would mean for their own teamยดs chances going forward.

And Poland was quick to grab the unexpected gift. ย Jurecki & Co. had absolutely no problems against a weak Belarusian team that had to play without superstar Siarhei Rutenka โ€“ he left the field injured after a few minutes.

The hosts managed to get up by 10 goals before sloppiness took over, allowing Belarus to reduce the gap. ย Poland controls its destiny at the European Championship once again. ย A victory against Croatia on Wednesday evening will send the hosts to the semi-final. ย The only remaining question: Will the home team stumble again?

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