No easy way for Norway to the final

SEMI-FINAL 1:

Norway vs Hungary 27:23 (17:13)

Top scorer: Henny Reistad 11/15 (Norway), Katrin Klujber 9/13 (Hungary)

• Norway had a flying start with an ultra-efficient attack, forcing Hungary’s coach Vlagyimir Golovin to take an early time-out in minute seven, when they were down 3:7

• the defending EHF EURO and EHF EURO cup champions lacked some precision in the middle of the first half, but then managed to pull ahead again to 15:8, the sixth strike of right wing Emilie Hovden

• both goalkeepers Silje Solberg-Østhassel (Norway) and Blanka Böde-Bíró (Hungary) had a huge impact on the first half, being almost equal with 7:6 saves

• right after the break, Hungary reduced the gap to only 16:17, but when it counted, Norwegian team captain Henny Reistad took responsibility, netting three crucial goals to be back on track at 21:16

• having two players more on the court, the Golovin team grabbed the chance for a comeback (20:22), but in crunch time failed several times against Eli Raasok, who had replaced Solberg-Østhassel

• finally, Emily Hovden’s strike for the 27:22 with two minutes left decided the semi

Henny Reistad makes the difference

In the beginning, Hungary were weak in defending, allowing Norway many easy goals. The Scandinavian side did not even have to play their classic counter-attack style to pull ahead, but mainly scored from position attack and from the second wave.

Intermediately, the EHF EURO 2024 bronze medallists improved, when they were boosted by the saves of goalkeeper Blanka Böde-Bíró. In attack, Katrin Klujber was their driving force, netting six of her nine goals in the first half. Overall, the number of technical mistakes and missed chances was too high to endanger the dominant Norwegians, who could have even led with a bigger margin than four goals at the break.

Even a bad re-start and the face injury of Silje Solberg-Østhassel did not put Norway under pressure. New goalkeeper Eli Raasok was a great replacement – and in attack, Henny Reistad proved why she was awarded IHF World Player in the last three years. Reistad now leads the overall top scorer list of the EHF EURO cup with 46 goals. Finally, the 21st Norwegian victory against Hungary in the 29th duel and the berth to Sunday’s final were never really endangered despite some close situations in the second half.