Norway aim to down Spain for the first time in 24 years

The room for mistakes is slimmer and slimmer in the EHF EURO 2022 main round group II in Bratislava, with three teams pitted against each other for two places in the semi-finals.

As Russia and Germany still only have two points, two less than Norway and Sweden and four less than leaders Spain, the former have must-win games on Sunday.

In the last game of round 3 of the group, Norway aim to snap Spain’s 17-game unbeaten streak at the EHF EURO, but also to stop a 11-game losing streak against the reigning champions, dating back to 1998.

GROUP II

Poland vs Russia
Sunday, 23 January, 15:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• after winning their first three games, Russia lost both matches in the main round and are in a must-win situation if they want to progress to the semi-finals. The team will welcome back their second top scorer, back Sergei Mark Kosorotov, who missed the last three games
• Poland are eliminated from contention and are on a three-game losing streak, scoring 72 goals in the last three matches, 31 of which came against Norway
• Poland’s 13th goal in the game will be their 1,500 at the EHF EURO, making them the 13th team in history to reach this milestone
• Polish wings Przemyslaw Krajewski and the second top scorer of the competition, Arkadiusz Moryto, need only two goals to hit the 50-goal milestone at the EHF EURO. Moryto has scored 34 goals in this tournament
• Poland won five of the last six mutual meetings between the two sides, including a 24:22 win in the preliminary round of the EHF EURO 2014

Patryk Rombel, Poland coach: “We need to make fewer mistakes in the games we play, especially against such tough opponents. Certainly, fatigue contributed to our mistakes in the last matches.”

Aleksandr Ermarkov, Russia line player: “We do not think about where we are going to finish, the only thing that counts is to win the last two games and continue to improve as a team.”

Germany vs Sweden
Sunday, 23 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• provided Sweden win the game, Germany will tie their worst-ever losing streak at the EHF EURO – three games in a row – set twice between 2008 and 2010, and 2012 and 2016
• Sweden have conceded 118 goals in the first five games, an average of 23.6 goals per game, the second lowest amount in the competition
• 11 Swedish players are currently plying their trade in the German Bundesliga at eight different teams, with only three of them currently at clubs in the Swedish league
• Sweden’s eighth goal in the game will be their 2,500th at the EHF EURO, only the sixth team to reach that milestone after Spain, Croatia, France, Denmark and their opponents, Germany
• Germany are unbeaten in the last seven games against Sweden, winning the last four matches at the EHF EURO. The Scandinavian’s side last win against their opponents was secured in the EHF EURO 2002 final, 33:31, after extra time

Alfred Gislason, Germany coach: “We did not talk about semi-finals, even when we had our full squad. Our goal was to proceed to the main round, now we lost two matches against top teams. Those games were important for our players to learn for the future. On Sunday, against Sweden, we will not be the favourites, but we still play to win.”

Hampus Wanne, Sweden left wing: “We had finished the preliminary round second ranked and did not carry a point to the main round. This means, you have to win all four matches, if you want to go to the semi-finals. Now we had two matches within two days and have four points on the account. On Sunday, we face a really strong German team. They had many changes, but still they have top stars from Bundesliga. There is no favourite for this match.”

Spain vs Norway
Sunday, 23 January, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Spain have famously dominated Norway in their head-to-head matches, winning 13 out of 15, including the last 11 games, with the Scandinavian’s last win dating back to 1998
• ‘Los Hispanos’, who already hold the record for the largest number of wins at the EHF EURO, 73, will become the first side to hit 3,000 goals in the competition when they hit their seventh against Norway
• Norway left back Sander Sagosen is working his way through the all-time goal scorer standings. He is currently in 16th place, with 155 goals
• Norway (32.4 scored goals per game) and Spain (28.6 scored goals per game) are two of the top four attacks in the competition. The Scandinavian side lead the standings, with 162 goals scored at the EHF EURO 2022
• a win would certainly see Spain through to the final weekend, earning their sixth consecutive semi-finals berth, the second-largest streak in the history of the EHF EURO

Jordi Ribera, Spain coach: “The two points we won against Russia are crucial for our tournament, now we will rest and prepare for the game against Norway, which are always difficult opponents to play against.”

Kent Robin Tönnesen, Norway right back: “We won twice in the main round and we have a lot of confidence now. Since a long time, we have not beaten Spain, so we hope that the time has come now, as we are playing better and better.”