Even though they were ahead already in the first half, Slovenia made a comeback in the second half and took over the lead. The Dutch players never faltered, and goalkeeper and Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, Yara ten Holte spurred what would be a decisive goal run.
GROUP II
Netherlands vs Slovenia 26:22 (14:10)
- the Netherlands had a blistering start to the game, and set the 3:0 lead — it would have been even wider if not for Slovenia's Maja Vojnovic between the posts, who finished the match with 15 saves (41 per cent)
- Slovenia had an early timeout in minute six, following their attacking problems, and they scored their first goal in the game right after, courtesy of their top scorer Tjaša Stanko
- the Netherlands kept their cool and dominated the first half, taking a four-goal lead into the break
- a completely different Slovenia came to the court in the second half, using a 6-0 goal run to take over the lead (16:15) and left the opponents goalless for seven minutes
- Yara ten Holte rose to the occasion, and allowed her teammates to step up a gear and make a significant break which lead to victory
- two prominent Dutch players, Angela Malestein and Lois Abbingh, both celebrated their 100th EHF EURO goals — now their tallies are at 103 and 102 goals, respectively
- Tjaša Stanko not only became Slovenia's player with the most EHF EURO appearances, 19, leapfrogging Ana Gros, but also netted her 70th EHF EURO goal
Goalkeepers' connection with easy goals
The Netherlands travelled to Vienna with three straight wins and made sure to remain on this unbeaten path. Even though their cumulative attacking efficiency was not at the highest (54 per cent), and Slovenia challenged them in the second half, two wing players made sure they still grabbed a convincing win.
Left wing Zoë Sprengers and right wing Angela Malestein powered ahead in the first half, netting 58 per cent of Netherlands' goals before the break. They maintained their role as Sarah Dekker and Bo van Wetering were also in the game as four wing players netted 14 goals total out of Netherlands' 26.
However, a significant number of their easy goals would not be possible if not for goalkeeper Yara ten Holte. The 25-year-old goalkeeper was already at a saving efficiency of 39.7 per cent at the Women's EHF EURO 2024 with 29 saves ahead of this game, and she added an amazing 15 saves at 42 per cent saving efficiency to the mix.
We stayed really calm in the head. It was a game with ups and downs. Especially in defence, some difficulties in the beginning of the second half. But we stayed calm, and we just did our thing and we did the defence better. Then we could score again and then we were leading comfortably.
In this moment, four goals difference is very, very good for Slovenia, because our team is no more experienced players. I think 10 or 11 players are first time playing European championship. First one playing against Netherlands — a great team. I'm very, very satisfied.
