GROUP II
Romania vs Spain 28:27 (12:11)
- Romania’s back Eliza Buceschi and line player Crina Pintea were the top scorers of the match, with seven goals each
- Spain attempted to mount a comeback, even came back to take the lead in the 42nd minute after two 3:0 runs, but failed in the last second, with Bianca Bazaliu scoring a monster goal with one second left on the clock
- Romania’s left back Cristina Neagu had five goals into the game, improving her overall EHF EURO tally to 287 goals and at the 2022 tournament to 23 goals
- this was Romania’s seventh win in eight matches against Spain at the EHF EURO, with their string of dominance continuing after this win
- both Romania and Spain stand now at two points, tying Germany and the Netherlands in the group’s standings, with France and Montenegro leading the standings, with four points
Amazing finish in Skopje
Spain really read Romania’s game well, stopping their engine, Cristina Neagu, with an excellent and aggressive 5-1 defence, which morphed into a 4-2 one, that really hampered Florentin Pera’s side. But Romania had some help from key players like Sorina Grozav, Crina Pintea or Eliza Buceschi, who kept the team afloat.
But none of those players were key in the end, with Bianca Bazaliu taking the game by storm with her third goal, just at the buzzer. With an amazing shot, from over 10 metres away, Bazaliu scored and brought Romania’s win, only their third in the last 13 matches at the EHF EURO.
Just like that, both Romania and Germany, who started the main round with zero points, secured wins and entered the fray for a better finish in the competition, in what projects to be a wild main round group in Skopje.
Shoot hard. This is what I was thinking. There were only a few seconds left, so I knew that what I had to do was to shoot. And it went in, the feeling is unbelievable.
