Norway celebrated in Ljubljana, welcoming their 13th consecutive EHF EURO win. Even though Croatia performed well for the 45 minutes, the defending champions were in the lead throughout the match.
Croatia came close at the beginning of the second half, when Tena Japundza equalled for 17:17, but mistakes in the attack saw them trail again soon, and they failed to recover this time.
GROUP A
Norway vs Croatia 32:23 (16:14)
- Croatia struggled in the attack in the first 20 minutes, Norway's defensive display was on a high level leaving Croatia with only two goals in the opening 10 minutes
- the biggest lead in the first half time for Norway's were by four goals as Nora Mørk was not only scoring but also guiding the team, while Vilde Ingstad fought well on the line and hardly missed
- Croatia were not giving up, coach Nenad Sostaric decided to start the second half with a changed formation, which turned out to be a good decision; in the 34th minute, Tena Japundza netted for 17:17
- nothing was going Croatia's way since hitting the 45th-minute mark, failing to keep up with the imposed rhythm set by the strong Scandinavian team
- Henny Reistad was named Player of the Match, netting seven goals at a 64% efficiency; Croatia's top scorer was Stela Posavec with four goals
Norway's bright debutants
The reigning champions came to the Women's EHF EURO 2022 without some of their stars. And despite their base staying the same, including Nora Mørk, Stine Oftedal, Henny Reistad, and Katrine Lunde, head coach Thorir Hergeirsson introduced seven new players to the squad, all of them making their debut at the major competition. Ane Cecilie Høgseth and Thale Rushfeldt Deila showed some strong defensive performances, especially against line players. Kristina Novak, Sunniva Amalie Næs Andersen and Annike Wollik combined scored three times and they celebrated their first EHF EURO goals with two important points at the start of the competition.
"It is never easy to play against Croatia," said Norway coach Thorir Hergeirsson. "They have an interesting team, played their own style, and they are difficult to defend against. We had more energy and power to play 60 minutes as we made the gap in the second half."
Croatia centre back Valentina Blazevic said her team fought well in the first half and can take the positives for the next matches.
"We didn't let Norway score easily. But in the last 15 minutes, we lost concentration and energy. Norway used that, they are perfect in that," Blazevic said. "I saw many good things today and we should focus on them against Hungary."
