Slovenia will open against tough opponents: Denmark, who reached the semi-finals at two of the three major international championships held in the past two years. Following the first game in Celje, Serbia and Sweden will close round 1 for group B.
GROUP B
Denmark vs Slovenia
Friday 4 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV
- Denmark reached the semi-finals at the EHF EURO 2020 on the home court, placing fourth. One year later, they clinched the bronze medal at the 2021 IHF World Championship
- Slovenia placed 16th at the EHF EURO 2020 and then 17th at the World Championship
- this match will see Denmark goalkeeper Sandra Toft equal her national team’s record for most Women’s EHF EURO matches played. She will join the side’s former goalkeeper, Karin Mortensen, with 36 EHF EURO caps
- Toft was named All-star Team goalkeeper at the last EHF EURO and the 2021 World Championship, while her teammate Line Haugsted earned the award for best defender at the EHF EURO 2020
- four of the five previous matches between Denmark and Slovenia have seen Danish wins, with Slovenia’s victory coming at the 2003 World Championship. In the EHF EURO 2020 preliminary round, Denmark won 30:23
Slovenia centre back Nina Zulic: “They are good in this fast handball. If you do mistakes they can go really fast in the fast break and score. So it's important to have a clear head, you know, to play with your roles and to not try not to get these easy goals, because like that they are getting stronger.”
Denmark head coach Jesper Jensen: “There are so many thing in an opening that we are not able to control so we just have to stay focused on what we actually can control. And also what is our strength — just staying there and keep it simple and see how things will react. Of course, there will be minutes tomorrow where there will be a lot of pressure, there will be minutes where we may be playing good, so we just have to to avoid the big bumps and hopefully it will be enough when we have played two times 30 minutes.”
Sweden vs Serbia
Friday 4 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV
- after an 11th-place finish at the EHF EURO 2020, Sweden had a stellar year in 2021, finishing fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and fifth at the World Championship in Spain
- Serbia ranked 13th at the last EHF EURO, but very narrowly missed successes at the last two World Championships. In 2019 they placed sixth, missing the semi-finals by one point in the main round, and in 2021 they were 12th, again missing the knockout round by just one point
- Sweden wing Nathalie Hagman was top scorer of the 2021 World Championship, where she scored 19 goals in two separate matches. She is level with Poland’s Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc for most goals scored in one EURO match: 17
- while it is the second EHF EURO with Tomas Axner at the helm for Sweden, Serbia are playing their first under the guidance of Uroš Bregar
- Serbia and Sweden have met nine times in official matches since their first encounter in 2012. The first four matches saw draws, before Sweden took three victories and Serbia two
- Swedish right back Nina Koppang was tested positive and will not make her EHF EURO debut against Serbia
Serbia right back Andjela Janjusevic: “We have a very strong match ahead of us against Sweden. However, we are ready as we had enough time to prepare.
“If we can stop the Swedish counter attack and we will play well in defence, especially in duels, I believe we will not have any problems. It is very important we keep our concentration high throughout the whole 60 minutes if we want to win and start this tournament with important two points. We all know how hard it is to play the first match of any major tournament.”
Sweden line player Linn Blohm: “Our aim is always to win every game we play. The feeling before the tournament is great. We are taking it step by step all the time.”
