The ambitious hosts will face Spain in the repeat of the 2012 Olympic and EHF EURO 2014 semi-finals. Germany and Poland will lock horns in a duel between two neighbours later.
GROUP D
Montenegro vs Spain
Saturday 5 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV
- Montenegro have their seventh straight appearance at the EHF EURO, their best result was the gold medal 10 years ago, beating Norway in the final at Belgrade
- Spain have their 12th EHF EURO ahead, in 2008 and 2014, they made it to the finals, but twice were beaten by Norway. In the last two World Championships, Spain were semi-finalists, winning silver in 2019 and finishing on the fourth rank in 2021 at home
- since 2020, six-time EHF Champions League winner Bojana Popovic is coach of Montenegro, while Ignacio Prades took over the Spanish team in autumn 2021.
- eight times, both sides duelled in official matches so far, highlighted by the 2012 Olympic semi-final, won by Montenegro, and the 2014 EHF EURO semi-final, when Spain were the winners. The last confrontation was a 26:26 draw in the group phase of the EHF EURO 2020 in Denmark. The overall balance includes four Spanish victories and three of Montenegro
- Montenegrin Jovanka Radicevic is the eighth best scorer in the EURO history with 171 goals so far – and the second best at the current EHF EURO behind Cristina Neagu (264)
- Spanish goalkeeper Silvia Navarro will have her 40th EHF EURO match ahead, only three Spanish players have been on court more often at EHF EURO events.
Montenegro coach Bojana Popovic: “It feels good to play on home court, but of course it means more pressure on those players who do not have that big experience. The seasoned players are used to the atmosphere, which we expect here. Therefore, it is important to control your emotions and to focus only on handball and don’t think so much about things around you. The players shall be relaxed.”
Spain left back Alexandrina Barbosa: “We only think step by step, we do not have the next round in our minds, but only the next match. Every game is like a final for us, so we have the first final against Montenegro. They play at home, they will start very strong, we have to try to build a strong defence and then run counter-attacks.”
Germany vs Poland
Saturday 5 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV
- Germany never missed any Women’s EHF EURO; silver at the premiere in 1994 is their only medal, in 2006 and 2008, they made it to the semis
- Poland play their eighth Women’s EHF EURO, their best result was the fifth rank in 1998, in the last three editions (2016,2018, 2020) they did not win a single match and missed the main round three times
- including test matches, Germany and Poland duelled 61 times so far, and the Germans took 37 wins, were defeated 18 times and tied six times – the last EHF EURO duel was a 21:21 draw in Denmark two years ago
- two Polish players – Magda Balsam und Dagmara Nocun – currently play for a German club: Metzingen; Monika Kobylinska (now Brest Bretagne Handball) have previously played for Metzingen, too
- Germany miss two key players – goalkeeper Dinah Eckerle (pregnancy) and right back Alicia Stolle (hand surgery); in preparation left wing Antje Döll and left back Marie Michalczik were ruled out by injuries and miss the EHF EURO, Alexia Hauf jumped in as new left wing and had her first international match in the final test against Romania
- German head coach Markus Gaugisch (appointed in April 2022) has his first major tournament ahead in this position, besides he successfully steered German champions Bietigheim to the EHF European League title
- in their EHF EURO 2022 preparations, both sides faced France in test match, and either Germany or Poland lost twice against the current Olympic champions
Germany centre back Alina Grijseels: “Poland count on a physical strong team with powerful back court shooters and a massive defence. We need to be ready for a tough fight. We need to gain confidence in our opener, as then the match against host Montenegro will be from a different level in this fully packed arena.”
Poland left back Monika Kobylinska: “We know that a first match is always full of emotions and is always a hard game. Germany have a good team, but we know our strengths, and we want to get the match running like we want.”
