Slovenia conquer first big challenge and open victorious

GROUP B
Denmark vs Slovenia 26:28 (15:14)

• the match was decided only in the last 10 minutes, when Slovenia created a two-goal edge that Denmark could ultimately not overturn. The decisive goal came from Tamara Mavsar, as she netted for 27:24 in the 57th minute
• Slovenia held the upper hand through the middle of the first half, briefly by two goals (9:7 in the 14th minute), but Denmark had claimed the edge by the end of the period. The second half looked to be set for the same scenario at some point, but Slovenia finished stronger
• Denmark changed between an attacking formation with two line players and two backs rather than a full back court in the first half, but the more traditional formation with three backs ultimately served the Scandinavian side best
• Althea Reinhardt had the strongest performance in goal, making five saves for Denmark after she entered to start the second half. But her co-goalkeeper Sandra Toft made the most notable piece of history as she equalled the record for most EHF EURO caps for Denmark (36) with this game
• Slovenia captain Ana Gros was named player of the match and was the top scorer of the game, with eight goals, while Denmark wings Trine Østergaard and Emma Friis combined for 13 

A new look for Slovenia

Ask anyone to name a player for Slovenia and they will likely pick Ana Gros, the emblematic right back who has so long been the team’s most dominant scorer and on-court leader. In recent years, left back Tjasa Stanko has joined Gros as one of their most recognisable players — but in their EHF EURO 2022 opener, Slovenia showed a more balanced effort.

Gros was still the top scorer, tallying six goals in the first 30 minutes alone, but overall Slovenia looked ready to meet Denmark on equal footing all round and stayed composed in the tense game. It was a new-look Slovenia and the influence of Dragan Adzic, who took the helm as coach in 2021, seems to be coming through.

Mie Højlund (DEN) — back: "We’ve been excited to play on Slovenia’s home court and it didn’t disappoint. So it was a fun match for us to play. Now it’s two games, and tough games. We’ve just got to go home and learn from this game. I think there’s lots to learn. We can do better. We didn’t do our best today and now we just looking forward to playing some tough games.”

Branka Zec (SLO) — goalkeeper: “I’m happy that we showed to ourselves that we can do it, because we know who Denmark are and we are happy that we started like this. But this win doesn’t mean anything because tomorrow is a new day. We are looking forward to Sunday.”