EHF EURO

Turkey out of the EHF EURO race

EHF / Björn Pazen

27 April 2021, 19:42

Tuesday was the first official match between the two countries in 26 years, with the Slovenians yet to lose to their Turkish counterparts, although they had to settle for a draw in 1995.

Turkey will have to wait at least until 2024 to play their first-ever Men’s EHF EURO final tournament. After the 22:30 home defeat against Slovenia on Tuesday, the side of head coach Ilker Sentürk remains on zero points after four matches - and cannot make it among the best three teams of group 5 anymore. On the other hand, Slovenia top the ranking with seven points now - and made a huge step towards the EHF EURO 2022 after finishing in fourth place at the 2020 edition.

GROUP 5:

Turkey vs Slovenia 22:30 (11:16)

Though Slovenia were constantly ahead after the 4:4 tie, Turkey managed to remain on a quite equal level until the 9:11 scoreline.
Barcelona’s right back Jure Dolenec scored half of the Slovenian goals before the break, netting eight from nine attempts - in the end he had 12 strikes. The main reason for the clear halftime gap was the difference in goalkeeping: While Slovenian Urban Lesjak saved 9 from 18 shots (50%), both Turkish goalkeepers Göktepe and Özmusul had one save from 17 shots on their tally.
Ten minutes before the end, the deal was sealed with a comfortable 27:20 advantage for the Slovenians, who had rotated their squad quite early.
22-year-old Gorkem Bicer was best Turkish scorer of the match - after five goals from five attempts in the first half, he was on seven strikes after 60 minutes.
the teams will face each other again on Sunday in Celje. Before, Slovenia travel to Poland and Turkey host the Netherlands on Thursday.

Slovenia on the way to their 13th EHF EURO

After missing the ticket for the Tokyo Olympic Games in Berlin in March, Slovenia were down on the ground, but managed to get their heads up again with ease. Having seven points on their account and the reverse match against Turkey on home ground on Sunday, the gate to the EHF EURO 2022 is wide open. In case of qualification, the team of head coach Ljubomir Vranjes is seeded for the group in Debrecen (Hungary). Except in 1998 and 2002, Slovenia had been part of all 12 EHF EURO tournaments.