The task was given for Russia: the Olympic champions had to win against Denmark to stay in the race for the semifinal. Denmark couldn’t get out of the race even with a defeat, they will play with Romania in the last round that will decide the fate of both teams. The match between Russia and Denmark brought a lot of excitement as it was an even game. Sandra Toft was doing really well in the Danish goal, still Russia took a 3-goal lead after 20 minutes (8-11). However, they were not able to score in the last 10 minutes of the first half while Denmark netted 5 times to take a two-goal advantage to the locker room (13-11).
Even though Denmark started better in the beginning of the second half (15-11), Russia came closer slowly and after 43 minutes, they levelled the score (18-18). In the rest of the game, the two teams were going hand in hand. The young Danish penalty-killer, Althea Reinhardt saved two penalties again. Although Russia tried hard, they never managed to take the lead so the semifinals seemed to fade away for Evgeny Trefilov’s girls. When Denmark scored with one and a half minutes left and Russia lost the ball quickly in attack, the chances seemed to be gone for the Russians. But Denmark gave them another chance to save themselves. Russia equalized with 25 seconds left and as Denmark lost the ball after a few seconds in attack, the Russians had one more chance to win the game. A lucky timeout from Trefilov saved them from a quick turnover, but Denmark still grabbed the ball. However, the Scandinavians didn’t have time to lead an attack so the match ended with a draw (26-26). Denmark will play a “quarterfinal” with Romania tomorrow: the winner will book a place in the top 4.
EHF EURO 2016 – Main Round Group II – 2nd round
Denmark – Russia 26-26 (13-11)
Denmark: S. Jorgensen 7(1), M. Tranborg 6, F. Woller 3(2), K. Heindahl 3, A.M. Hansen 2, M. Fisker 1, L. Grigel 1, S. Nielsen 1, T. Ostergaard Jensen 1, L. Haugsted 1
Russia: M. Sudakova 6, V. Bobrovnikova 5, D. Dmitrieva 3(1), A. Sen 3, A. Vyakhireva 3(1), K. Sabirova 2(2), K. Kozhokar 2, A. Skorobogatchenko 1, K. Makeeva 1
Penalties: 3/4 ; 4/9
Suspensions: 8 minutes ; 8 minutes
Player of the match: Mette Tranborg (DEN)
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