Montenegro were in it until the dying seconds, with only one goal between the sides and the last possession, but Iceland goalkeeper Björgvin Pall Gustavsson celebrated what was his 40th EHF EURO match by making the match-winning save.
The defeat means Montenegro are out of the race for group C’s main round places, despite an excellent campaign. When Montenegro met Iceland two years ago in Budapest, Iceland won the clash by 10 goals. The result on Sunday night therefore shows just how far Montenegro have come since then.
Iceland’s Ómar Ingi Magnusson received the Grundfos Player of the Match award after scoring seven goals.
GROUP C
Montenegro vs Iceland 30:31 (15:17)
- after one draw and one two-goal win in round 1, group C saw yet another nail-biting battle in the round 2 opener, with Iceland securing the victory thanks to a save in the final seconds from Gustavsson
- the flow of the match changed more than once in the opening half, with Iceland reaching a 10:5 lead in the 16th minute, before Montenegro scored three unanswered goals to reduce the difference and keep a more level contest to the break
- as has become quite a trend for these sides, both could rely on great goalkeepers, with Montenegro’s Nebojsa Simic’s making 12 saves while Iceland’s Viktor Hallgrímsson and Björgvin Pall Gustavsson combined for 14
- although the score line was always narrow, Iceland had stronger team statistics across the board and appeared comfortable until the late stages of the match as they rotated significantly. All but two players were on court in the first 30 minutes
- after staying one to three goals behind through the second period, Montenegro clawed their way back and hit the lead with four minutes to go, 29:28 courtesy of Mirko Radovic – but Iceland reclaimed the upper hand and did not allow an equaliser in the last attack from their opponents
At the end one or two balls in all three games will decide who will go to the second round. It was a tough, even group. We were unlucky from these two days, I think we deserved more. But it’s sport.
In the end we were lucky and we’re happy that we won by one. We played really well, especially in our attack. But their goalkeeper [Nebojsa Simic] was just amazing today. I have to give him that. I’m just happy with how we played, but with all the free shots that we missed, that’s something we can do better.
