SUMMARY: Montenegro hugely impress; France, Netherlands, Germany also win

• day 2 of the Women's EHF EURO 2022 
• four matches in groups C (Skopje) and D (Podgorica):
  Montenegro have the perfect start with a 30:23 (12:9) win over Spain; France take a big win against North Macedonia, 24:14 (12:5); Netherlands edge Romania 29:28 (14:12); Germany come from behind to beat Poland 25:23 (11:12)
  
• all matches – in full and as three-minute highlight clip – available on EHFTV (geo-restrictions apply)
• find the latest stories and other news in the dedicated EHF EURO section on eurohandball.com
• Eric Willemsen reporting from Ljubljana; all photos (c) kolektiff / Jozo Cabraja, Jure Erzen, Axel Heimken, Uros Hocevar, Anze Malovrh, Sasa Pahic Szabo

Saturday 5 November 2022

23:15

Round 1 is done! We have seen all 16 teams on court now. The action continues Sunday when we switch back to groups A and B again:

• 18:00 CET: Croatia vs Hungary / Slovenia vs Sweden
• 20:30 CET: Switzerland vs Norway / Serbia vs Denmark

That wraps up the live blog for day 2. We hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did. See you tomorrow and we leave you as usual with some of the best pictures from tonight matches:

22:46

Four exciting games, each with their own story, have closed the opening round of matches in the preliminary round tonight. Read here what happened in groups C and D:

22:24

Starting the Women's EHF EURO 2022 with a win, that deserves a little kiss:

22:17

22:06 RESULT | NETHERLANDS VS ROMANIA 29:28 (14:12)

The points go to Netherlands, but well done to Romania, who have been up to five goals behind midway the second half but battled their way back into it – just coming up short in the end. Laura van der Heijden wirth seven goals the most productive shooter.

22:04 RESULT | POLAND VS GERMANY 23:25 (12:11)

Germany get the win many expected, but oh, what did they have to work really hard for this. Alina Grijseels with eight goals the best scorer.

21:54

So, so close, these final matches in the opening round!

21:33

A nice quick lookback to earlier tonight and what the brilliant Jovanka Radicevic did for Montenegro:

21:30

Cristina Neagu had one from six in the first half – and that was a penalty, but the Romanian superstar comes out of the dressing rooms to net twice in 90 seconds and level the score against Netherlands.

Game on!

21:15 HALF-TIME | NETHERLANDS VS ROMANIA 14:12

Netherlands two up in a close battle after Romania wiped out an early three-goal deficit for a brief lead. Here is what EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu in Skopje says after the opening half: 

21:12 HALF-TIME | POLAND VS GERMANY 12:11

Poland holding a surprise lead over Germany after 30 minutes. EHF journalist Björn Pazen is court-side in Podgorica and gives us his first-hand insight: 

21:07 

More impressive goalkeeper stuff: Adrianna Placzek is a main reason why Poland are 12:10 up against Germany at the moment:

20:58

Ouch, Yuliya Dumanska having such a great game for Romania against Netherlands, but then crashes with her side and back into the goal post while attempting another save. Hope she is OK... Here is what she has done just before:

20:46

In Skopje, Romania have a 4:0 run to turn a 6:3 deficit into a 7:6 lead against Netherlands. Dutch coach Per Johansson taking a team timeout.

Exciting stuff so far.

20:42

Big, big save from Germany's Katharina Filter, but Poland enjoy an early lead: 6:4. 

20:20

Only four of the 16 teams have not been in action yet, but that changes now. Netherlands vs Romania in group C and Poland vs Germany in group D are closing the opening round.

20:16

Montenegro truly delivered tonight against Spain, and this is what head coach Bojana Popovic has said right after the game in Pogorica:

19:59 

What party in Podgorica looks like:

19:43 HALF-TIME | FRANCE VS NORTH MACEDONIA 24:14 (12:5)

A 10-goal win is probably beyond what France expected taking on the co-hosts on their home court, but it is exactly what they got. North Macedonia did not score for over 15 minutes, which set the tone for the rest of the match. Coralie Lassource with four goals the best scorer for France.

19:32 RESULT | MONTENEGRO VS SPAIN 30:23 (12:9)

A dream start, we asked ourselves after a couple minutes. Yes, it certainly is! What a fiery start for Montenegro into their home EHF EURO, leaving Spain no chance. Five goals each make Jovanka Radicevic and Djurdjina Jaukovic the leading scorers.

Party in Podgorica!

19:14

Not just scoring, but scoring beautifully as well. Jovanka Radicevic starring:

19:10

17:7 after 40 minutes: France have opened a 10-goal gap over North Macedonia as Grace Zaadi nets for her second of the match.

19:03

Talking about legends: two other greats from Montenegrin handball were given their official farewell today. Thanks for everything, Katarina Bulatovic and Andrea Klikovac!

18:59

And that is goal No. 175 in EHF EURO history for Jovanka Radicevic! The Montenegrin legend converts a penalty to give her team a 16:11 lead over Spain. Oh, what a night in Podgorica!

18:43 HALF-TIME | FRANCE VS NORTH MACEDONIA 12:5

What a dramatic start from North Macedonia, who were just not able to put a ball past Cléopatre Darleux for the first quarter. That did all the damage. This is the vision from EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu live from Skopje:

18:38 HALF-TIME | MONTENEGRO VS SPAIN 12:9

Just the start Montenegro and the many home fans were hoping for! Let's hear from EHF journalist Björn Pazen, who is in the arena in Podgorica:

18:30

Fair to say Marina Rajcic is up for it! Great start for the Montegrin goalkeeper, denying Spain on numerous ocassions:

18:19

It took North Macedonia 15 minutes and 14 seconds to finally find to back of France's net as Sara Ristovska scores. Her team is 5:1 down but at least to have opened their goal account.

Meanwhile, the party in Montenegro is in full flow:

18:14

Well, the contrast could hardly be bigger: Montenegro 6:2 up against Spain, but North Macedonia have not scored a single goal in the opening 11 minutes and are 4:0 down to France. Incredible!

18:05

Is this what you call a dream start? Montenegro quickly 3:0 up against Spain in Podgorica.

Over in Skopje, France have opened the scoring against North Macedonia, 1:0.

17:55

Not long anymore now..

17:36

The other co-hosts, Montenegro, will throw off their EHF campaign in Podgorica against Spain.

And there is one very interesting detail about this match: Montenegro and Spain have played eight official matches in the past against each other – but not a single one of those matches was played in Montenegro or in Spain! All matches were on neutral courts, the final tournament of EHF EURO of IHF World Championship, or Olympics.

Anyway, their head-to-head is very much in the balance, with Montenegro winning three and Spain four times, alongside one draw – which happened the last time they met; at the EHF EURO two years ago.

17:19

France are probably one of the most difficult opponents North Macedonia could have got for the opening game of their home EHF EURO.

Just looking at their head-to-head history, we see that France won six of their previous eight duels. They had one draw back in 1995, but the only win for North Macedonia came in a weird week of EHF EURO Qualifiers back in March 2012: they beat France 30:27 on home court, but lost the reverse fixture in France only three days later by 40:20 (yes, that is no typo: forty-twenty...)

However, what are those stats worth when the teams have not met for the past 10 years? We will find out soon.

17:00

Saturday Night Fever: one more hour and groups C and D throw off, and the two co-hosts have huge opponents waiting for them in their first matches.

At 18:00 CET, Skopje will witness North Macedonia against France; Podgorica will see Montenegro against Spain.

In the later games at 20:30 CET, it will be Netherlands vs Romania and Poland vs Germany, respectively.

This is going to be a great night of handball, promised!

15:00

Three hours to go...

To get an idea what might come your way tonight, why not check out the best moments from yesterday's round 1 in the other two groups – the Top 5 Goals and Top 5 Saves:

14:36

Simona Madjovska did not think she would have a chance to feature for North Macedonia after being omitted from call-ups so many times. But she made it just in time and will be one of the team's main assets at the Women's EHF EURO 2022.

EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu spoke with Madjovska on the eve of the Macedonian opener against France in Skopje tonight for this feature:

14:16

We are less than four hours away from throw-off in Skopje and Podgorica for the first games in groups C and D, featuring the co-hosts North Macedonia and Montenegro taking on EHF EURO 2018 champions France and 2019 world champions hosts Spain, respectively.

The eight teams in groups A and B are already looking forward to their second matches on Sunday. Here are the previews from our dedicated EHF journalists Danijela Vekić and Courtney Gahan:

13:42

The three-day conference 'Business opportunities in Slovenia', held in Ljubljana on the sidelines of the Women's EHF EURO 2022, has closed. Empowering women has been one of the main topics – and is also an important pillar of the European Championship.

The closing day has been dedicated exclusively to women's empowerment in all spheres of society, from business to politics, arts, and culture, and, of course, in sports. Empowering stories from the panel of female speakers sharing their personal and professional backgrounds underlined the importance of fundamental values that burst creativity, successful management, and satisfaction are the right path to success and achievements.

The conference has concluded with a round table discussion with Marta Bon, Professor at the Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana and Coordinator of Women's EHF EURO 2022 Ambassadors, annd Deja Doler Ivanović, Sports Director and Ambassador of Women's EHF EURO 2022 sharing the important stories from sport and how to achieve a professional and success in the sport while being a female and a professional.

The overall conclusion? "Women do and should inspire women."

12:56

The EHF together with its photo agency partner, kolektiffimages, will use the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 to showcase the best ‘women in sport’ images involving all the championship’s protagonists. You can read more about this project here.

Today's picture is truly iconic:

11:30

It is time for our Stat of the Day from data analyst and journalist Julian Rux. Here you go:

11:01

A lot of talk in Montenegro in the build-up to their home EHF EURO has been about 10 years ago, when they won the European Championship, just months after earning Olympic silver and Buducnost lifting the EHF Champions League trophy.

Djurdjina Jaukovic, 15 at that time, saw it all happening on TV and is now eager to start the EHF EURO in front of Montenegro's home crowd in Podgorica against Spain tonight, as she has told EHF journalist Björn Pazen for this feature:

10:34

This is the first Women's EHF EURO co-hosted by three nations. Yesterday, all hearts were beating as one in Slovenia, so can North Macedonia and Montenegro follow tonight? With France and Spain, respectively, they will face some real serious opponents. This is going to be quite a night in Skopje and Podgorica...

10:21

Before we look forward to the four interesting matches that await us tonight, here is your chance to relive the excitement of the opening night, with four matches in group A and B.

Hungary and Norway in Ljubljana as well as Slovenia and Sweden in Celje got off to winning starts, but... it is still very early days, so still all to play for for Switzerland and Croatia in group A and Denmark and Serbia in group B.

Here are the highlights of all four games: 

10:15

Good morning! After the excitement of the opening night yesterday, we are back with the live blog for day 2 of the Women's EHF EURO 2022.

While we were in Ljubljana and Celje on Friday, today our focus is on Skopje and Podgorica as groups C and D are set to throw off tonight.

Here is the schedule: