Netherlands and France aim to seal main round berths

North Macedonia vs Netherlands

Monday, 7 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Netherlands will secure their fifth consecutive main round berth provided they win their second game in a row at the EHF EURO 2022, after a 29:28 win against Romania in their opener
• North Macedonia are the team that scored the lowest number of goals in the first round, 14, tying their worst-ever attacking output in the history of the competition
• the co-hosts are also one of the two teams that failed to convert 50% or more of their shots, with an efficiency of 35.9%, Spain being the only other side that did not reach that point, with 48.9% efficiency
• Dutch goalkeeper Yara ten Holte, who is deputising for Tess Wester, who is missing the tournament due to being pregnant, has the third largest number of saves after the first round, 10, with a 33.3% saving efficiency
• the co-hosts have never won a competitive match against the Netherlands, losing once and drawing the other two games, with both draws coming in the EHF EURO 2010 Qualifiers, 20:20 in Rotterdam and 28:28 in Skopje

Per Johansson, Netherlands coach: “We will have a very difficult match against them, because they are the co-hosts and despite the loss against France, they will fight until the last drop of energy to try and win a game. We must not make the mistake of thinking that we are favourites and we will win the match before it even started.”

Simona Madjovska, North Macedonia left back: “We gave too much respect against France in the first match, I think the whole pressure got to us and we needed to be better at times and have more impetus in our attack. We go at it again against the Netherlands and I hope that this game will be better for us."

Romania vs France

Monday, 7 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• if France win, Romania will concede their sixth consecutive loss at the EHF EURO, setting a new record for the worst losing streak in the competition
• facing France, the team which conceded the lowest number of goals in the first round, 14, Romania will face a difficult challenge, especially as they scored only 18.6 goals on average in the past three matches against the reigning Olympic champions
• Romania’s attacking tempo has not been high, as Florentin Pera’s side made the largest number of passes in the competition, 991, while France had 542 passes, the lowest number after the first match
• in this match, Cristina Neagu will break into the top 10 of the all-time appearances list at the EHF EURO, with 47 matches, only seven games shy of the record set by former France captain Siraba Dembele
• Romania will miss line player Lorena Ostase, who has a finger injury in her left hand, while goalkeeper Yuliya Dumanska is a doubt, after suffering an injury after colliding with the post in the loss against the Netherlands
• Romania have won only two of the last seven matches played against France, with the latest win coming at the EHF EURO 2008, in Skopje, 30:25

Grace Zaadi, France centre back: “Of course I know many of the Romania players, because I play at CSM Bucuresti, therefore we face each other pretty much all the time. They have a very good squad at their disposal, with Cristina Neagu and Crina Pintea, my teammates at club level, always starring on the court, so we are in for a very difficult match, but, hopefully, we will win the game.”

Crina Pintea, Romania line player: “The game against the Netherlands was very difficult, I feel exhausted, because the tempo was really high. Everyone knows France, they are a strong team, a very difficult side to play against, therefore we will also have a tough challenge.”