France, Montenegro can lock up semi-final spots in group II

GROUP II

Romania vs Montenegro
Tuesday 15 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Romania have their fate in their hands: two wins in the last two games against Montenegro and Germany are enough for the tickets for the final weekend in Ljubljana
• a win for Montenegro, followed by a draw or a victory for France against Germany, would seal their qualification for the semi-finals – for the first time since their fourth-place finish in 2014
• Romania captain Cristina Neagu will play for her 50th EHF EURO match; only the fifth player to reach that milestone; Norway goalkeeper Katrine Lunde is the record holder with 57 games
• Montenegro’s right wing Jovanka Radicevic needs only three goals to become the fifth player to score 200 goals at EHF EURO events; Neagu is the all-time top scorer with 287
• the head-t0-head record between the two teams is tied with three wins each and a draw; at the EHF EURO, both sides won a game each

Romania coach Florentin Pera: “I trust in the team’s capacity to focus and be at 100% for this match. Montenegro are a good team, with plenty of experienced players, but we have a good run and we want it not to end here.”

Montenegro coach Bojana Popovic: “The players just need to restart and enjoy playing handball. If they enjoy the time on court, then they have the opportunity to win. They need to be more relaxed.”

France vs Germany
Tuesday 15 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• enjoying their best ever start into an EHF EURO, France have four wins; adding a fifth on Tuesday would see them qualify for the semi-finals
• the Olympic champions are 34 short of the 2,000-goal mark at the EHF EURO; only six teams have scored more: Norway, Denmark, Russia, Hungary, Germany, and Romania
• France have the best defence in the competition so far, conceding 78 goals in four matches for an overage 19.5 goals per game
• Germany must win to stay alive in their challenge for a semi-finals berth; it would be their first time since 2008, when the tournament was also hosted by North Macedonia
• France have won eight of the 13 matches against Germany, including the last five; they also beat Germany twice in two friendlies a month prior to the EHF EURO: 34:31 and 30:29

France line player Beatrice Edwige: “In those two test matches we were really bad in defence, even though we won. They scored too many goals, on Tuesday, we will see a totally different game.”

Markus Gaugisch, Germany coach: “It is great fun to face a team like this. In the test matches in preparation, we found tactical solutions against them and were on an almost equal level.”