Bitter defeat of Slovenia against Macedonia

Slovenia to face Germany on Monday

14. januar 2018 ob 21.02 • Zagreb - MMC RTV SLO

Nik Henigman scored for the lead of Slovenia 4:2 in the 7th minute. Foto: Reuters

Slovenian handball players have lost to Macedonia in their opening match at the European Championship in Croatia with 25:24. In the first match of group C, the Germans beat Montenegrins with 32:19.

After the first half, the result between Slovenia and Macedonia was tied - 11:11. The first Slovenian formation included Matevž Skok, Miha Zarabec, Nik Henigman, Žiga Mlakar, Darko Cingesar, Gašper Marguč and Blaž Blagotinšek. Slovenia started the match well and was in the lead after 11 minutes with 5-2. Slovenian goalkeeper Skok shone, while the team was angry at Romanian judges, who excluded Cingesar and Igor Žabič one after the other.

The team led by Veselin Vujović received the first goal from the game after just under 13 minutes. The Macedonians scored their first two goals from 7 metres, and they also had another penalty shot. The lead by three points was kept by the Slovenians until the 27th minute when the scoreboard showed 8:11. Due to a few Slovenia’s errors and successful defences of the backup goalkeeper Nikola Mitrevski, the opposite team tied in the last three minutes and a half. Philip Taleski scored the goal for 11:11 just before the siren.

The best shooters of the first half were Kiril Lazarov (5) and Žiga Mlakar (4). Blockers collected 9 defences, the same as Mitrevski (7) and Borko Ristovski (2) together on the opposite side.

The same way the first half ended is how the second took off. Macedonia took the lead with 15:11 and 16:12. In the 45th minute, the Slovenians tied with Zarabac's goal at 17:17. With three consecutive goals of its circle runner Blagotinšek, Slovenia made a turn (20:21, 21:22), but the Macedonians did not allow for this to confuse them, taking back the lead in 57th minute with 25:24. This did not change in the last three and a half minutes. Macedonia celebrated victory, while Slovenians experienced a cold shower. The Slovenian team will have a new opportunity to improve their performance on Monday against Germany and on Wednesday against Montenegro.

Montenegro managed to keep up with the Germans, the European champions from two years ago in Poland, up until the 4:3 score at the beginning of the 12th minute, after which Germany made a 9:0 partial result in the next ten minutes and surged to 13:3. The first half ended with 17:9. In the 42nd minute, the difference rose to +12 (24:12), and in the 50th it was already at +14 (28:14). This was also Germany's highest advantage in the game, while the match finished with +13. The best shooter, Uwe Gensheimer, scored nine goals.