Tomovski spoils Schmid’s party for North Macedonia

This game was also going to be an emotional one for Schmid, as the Swiss centre back was playing his last international game with Switzerland. But it seemed like the Macedonians were not going to let him enjoy his final appearance for the national team.

Despite Schmid scoring four in the first half, North Macedonia took the momentum early in the game to make it to half-time leading by four. Their goalkeeper Martin Tomovski was key to his team taking the momentum, even though Schmid was just unstoppable, scoring 12 times in total. But Tomoski had definitely decided to spoil the party, stopping the last Swiss shot to offer his team the two points.

GROUP A

North Macedonia vs Switzerland 29:27 (13:9) 

• the defences clearly had the upper hand in the first part of the game, as both teams only scored four times each in the first quarter, remaining level as a consequence
• the Macedonian defence took the upper hand, despite Switzerland taking a time-out, and did not concede a goal for seven minutes, allowing Kiril Lazarov’s men to take a five-goal advantage at the 22nd minute
• Switzerland made it back within two, thanks to two easy goals into the empty net, forcing Kiril Lazarov to take a timeout at the 39th minute
• with Andy Schmid netting eight in the second half, Switzerland made a comeback and even had the opportunity to take the lead, but Marko Kizikj stopped Manuel Zehnder’s seven-metre throw
• despite the pressure, Martin Tomovski still secured the first win at the EHF EURO for his team by stopping Schmid’s last shot, before Marko Mitev scored the game-winner
• thanks to his 12 goals, Swiss centre back Andy Schmid was voted as Grundfos Player of the Match by the fans

No Mitrevski, no problem for North Macedonia

One would be forgiven for thinking that the absence of goalkeeper and captain Nikola Mitrevski through injury would have put North Macedonia in trouble, but Martin Tomovski picked up exactly where his teammate left off.

His seven saves in the first half helped his team break away on the scoreboard.

And after a tougher period, Tomovski came back on the floor to stop Schmid’s last attempt and secure the first win for his team at the EHF EURO.

Photo © Kolektiff Images