North Macedonia grab last-gasp winner against Romania

GROUP B

North Macedonia vs Romania 24:23 (13:9)

H2H: 4-0-3
Top scorers: Filip Kuzmanovski 9/15 (MKD); Ionuț Nistor 8/8 (ROU)
Goalkeeper saves: Martin Tomovski 5/18, Nikola Mitrevski 2/10 (MKD); Ionuț Iancu 0/5, Mihai Popescu 10/28 (ROU)
POTM presented by Grundfos: Mihai Popescu (ROU)

• George Buricea called his first team timeout in the fifth minute after witnessing his squad going goalless in the opening minutes with the Macedonians already up by three goals
• Romania tried to neutralise the threat posed by Filip Kuzmanovski with Sorin Grigore or Robert Nagy playing strong and high defence on the Macedonian captain
• line player Mihail Alarov received a red card in the 46th minute for a dangerous play, while centre back Ștefan Cumpănici received a red card for a similar offence in the 57th minute for Romania
• the few hundred passionate Macedonian supporters created a noisy atmosphere in the Jyske Bank Boxen arena in Herning once again, enabling their favourites to thrive
• Mihai Popescu played his last-ever match in Romania's shirt, as the 40-year-old veteran goalkeeper retires from the national team, 24 years after his debut

Macedonians maintain slim hope of main round

With the ambitious Macedonians chasing a big-margin win for a chance at progressing to the main round, Kiril Lazarov’s squad began the match well, playing flawlessly in defence until the 10th minute, when Romania scored their first goal (4:1).

The Red-Yellow Lions' strong start set them on course for victory with their advantage on the rise throughout the match with the coach even deploying a seven-against-six attack at some points, in hope of strengthening their goal difference.

However, Mihai Popescu was determined not to let North Macedonia spoil his farewell match. The retiring goalkeeper made 10 saves (36 per cent), and proved crucial in stopping the Macedonians from building a big advantage in the second half. The 40-year-old Romanian legend enabled his teammates to set up a thriller finish in the end, but Nenad Kosteski scored an incredible buzzer beater to seal the win for his side in emphatic style.

Photos © kolektiff images