Croatia take revenge, and Israel cause a major surprise

Three matches of the fourth round in the EHF EURO 2014 qualification took place on Saturday, 6 April – and Croatia became the winners of the day.

By beating Hungary with a better margin compared to the defeat in the first leg (20:18 for Hungary), the Olympic bronze medallists now have best chances to finish on top of group 4.

Olympic champions, France, stumbled, but did not fall against Norway, and keep their clear record by recording the fourth victory in the fourth match.

Israel caused a major surprise by winning against previously unbeaten Montenegro.

Group 2: Israel vs. Montenegro 28:25 (11:12)

The loss against Israel has thrown Montenegro back in their quest of qualifying for the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark.

They missed booking an early ticket and now have two tough clashes against Germany and Czech Republic ahead.

Israel took their first points in this qualification and improved hugely after they had lost the first leg in Podgorica on Wednesday 28:29.

Even 12 goals from Igor Markovic were not enough to take those crucial points for Montenegro.

Montenegro had to replace their injured team captain Drasko Mrvaljevic and was furthermore hit by the injury of Mirko Milasevic after only 23 minutes.

In contrast to the first leg in Podgorica the Montenegrin defence was much better adapted to Israel's attack.

Israel tried hard to stop the taller Montenegrin shooters, but based on their better defence, the confidence of the guest team had risen.

Montenegro were in the lead for most of the first half, but were not able to outdistance the host.

The margin after 30 minutes was only one goal despite six strikes of Igor Markovic.

After the break the hosts improved by having a higher efficiency in attack and being more aggressive in defence.

When Avishaj Smoler netted to make it 23:19, Israel could hope for a major sensation – but like in the first leg, Montenegro proved that they have a long-lasting fighting spirit.

Led by the outstanding and unstoppable Markovic as well as Marko Lasica, Montenegro started their catch-up chase, scoring a 4:1 series to level the match at 24:24.

But the roller coaster changed its direction again: When Zoran Roganovic received a two minute suspension and Vladimir Osmajic missed a penalty shot, the match had turned.

Finally a double strike of Smoler (Israel's top scorer with ten goals) to make it 28:24 decided the game.

Group 3: France vs. Norway 32:28 (17:12)

A clever French squad withstood the pressure and remain with a 100 percent clear record after four matches – but the victory against Norway was much harder earned than the clear win in the first leg.

Norway clearly improved after the break and were close to turn the match in their favour, but never were in the lead in the crucial stages.

Led by top scorer Alix Nyokas (7 goals) and the final strikes of Nikola Karabatic (six goals overall), France prevented a first, while Norway can return home with theirs heads held high.

If Turkey do not win against Lithuania on Sunday, France are already qualified for the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark.

After a good start the Norwegians were overrun by the Olympic champions, who scored four consecutive goals to make it 14:9.

By improving their defence and being extremely efficient in attack, France seemed to have decided the match already at the break.

And as the clear advantage remained until the score of 22:16, the team of Claude Onesta decelerated, but then was punished hard for their lack of concentration.

Norway scored five straight goals in just six minutes and suddenly were back on eye level at 22:21, mainly thanks to the brilliant performances of Espen Lie Hansen, who scored all his six goals after the break.

Ten minutes before the end, Börge Lund equalised at 24:24 – and Norway suddenly seemed to be control of the match.

Norwegian coach Robert Hedin took a time-out when the score was 27:26 for the hosts.

But his message failed, as France returned on the winner’s way, deciding the match thanks to a double strike of Nyokas and Nikola Karabatic that saw France progress to 30:27.

Group 4: Croatia vs. Hungary 30:26 (15:9)

The second duel between Croatia and Hungary in just three days ended with another home victory.

After the team of Lajos Mocsai had beaten Croatia 20:18 on Thursday, 14.000 fans celebrated a well-deserved 30:26 win of the Olympic bronze medallists against Hungary on Saturday.

Thanks to this result Croatia are back on top of the ranking and have won the direct encounter, if both teams finish with the same amount of points in the end.

However, with six points each, the winning and losing team of todays's match are clearly on their way to Denmark 2014.

Croatia started the match furiously and scored an opening 5:0 run. Even two time-outs taken by Mocsai did not change the match.

The second half started in the same way as the goal difference kept rising up to eight in favour of the host.

After that Croatia slowed down but did not allow Hungary to come any closer than a margin of four goals.

Bence Zdolik scored six times for Hungary and on the other side Zlatko Horvat scored eight eight times and Domagoj Duvnjak seven goals for Croatia.

After the match Duvnjak said: “It was a very hard match and I am very proud of my team. This victory was very important."

Croatian coach Slavko Goluža added: "The crowd was great, they helped us to win. We are pretty tired but this victory needed to be achieved and we did it.”