Hungary grind out narrow win versus Montenegro

GROUP C

Hungary vs Montenegro 26:24 (14:14)

• the match winner was scored by Zoran Ilic as he took the gap to two for Hungary in the final minute
• hunting for their fifth ever EHF EURO win, compared to 20 prior to the round 1 clash for Hungary, Montenegro fought valiantly through the first half to finish level after seeing a lead of up to three goals against them more than once in the first 30 minutes
• with his second goal out of a total of four, wing Milos Vujovic became the first Montenegrin player to reach the 60-goal mark at the Men’s EHF EURO, as he leads the side’s overall top scorer chart at the event
• after veteran Gábor Ancsin featured on the right back in the first half, Hungary changed to their younger players in that position for the second, with Dominik Mathe and Ilic swapping in
• reflecting the equal game on court, the statistics between the sides were almost entirely level, although Montenegro recorded more technical errors as well as many more passes than Hungary, demonstrating how Hungary had to lose less energy to score their goals
• Montenegro goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic was named Grundfos Player of the Match after making 11 saves (30.6 per cent)

The rise of Montenegro continues

Although they did not take the points from the encounter against Hungary, the game represented one of Montenegro’s strongest openers ever in the Men’s EHF EURO in terms of the close score line.

Their best result in an opening game at the EHF EURO before Friday night’s match against Hungary was a draw against Russia on their very first participation back in 2008. In 2016, they recorded their closest opening defeat before the game on Friday night, coincidentally against Hungary by five goals.

Prior to 2020, the team had never won a game at the final tournament. In 2022, they took three victories in what was their best performance ever.