Denmark against the Republic of Korea may provoke memories of women’s handball titans of yesteryear, but that late evening clash on Monday is less pressurised than the big African continental clash of rivals Tunisia vs Congo.

That match is first up at the Palau d’Esports de Granollers and a win for either side will see them through to the main round of the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship and with it, history will be made – it will be the first time reaching the main round for either team.

Tunisia vs Congo 18:00 CET

A win for either side will see them make IHF Women’s World Championship history but it will be Tunisia who will be the more confident of securing that win, having defeated Congo as recently as last June, at this year’s CAHB Women’s African Championship in Cameroon, 22:17 in the bronze-medal match.

Despite that recent victory, Tunisia coach Moez Ben Amor told ihf.info it would be slightly different when asked about the challenge on Monday.

“Since the African championship they have strengthened their team with five players playing in France,” he said. “We watched their first game against Korea and we know them really well. Physically, maybe they are better than us, but technically and tactically we are better than they are. We hope that this last match will bring us into the main round.”

“Yes, we beat them at the last African champs but the team changed a bit since then,” added his right back Amal Hamrouni. “We need to confirm our victory and we will do everything we can do to win this match and qualify for the main round.”

Congo, like Tunisia, will forget their losses against Denmark and Korea and be fully focused on the continental clash, a game they had targeted ever since the draw was made back in August.

However, they go into the match without key player, left wing, Josephine Nkou, who suffered a severe knee injury against Denmark last time out and will not be playing.

“We are fighters,” said Congo left back Kimberley Rutil after their loss to Denmark. “We need to work and come back again.

“I’m new to the team and was not at the African Championships but, speaking to my teammates, it is possible (to win) but it will be hard because it's a derby match.

“We have to fight and we're going to work hard to play more and better together. I hope we can be better than Tunisia but it will be hard because Josephine was very important for us.”

Denmark vs Republic of Korea 20:30 CET

With two wins from both of their two games each, Denmark and Korea will battle it out for top spot in the group with the winners confirmed first position.

While Denmark have the clearer victories against Tunisia and Congo, it is Korea who have been tested harder, beating Tunisia 31:29 and Congo 37:23, compared to the Danes’ 34:16 and 33:18 results respectively.

“Maybe our goalkeepers were a little bit nervous,” said Korea coach Jang In-ik to ihf.info about his sides’ performance against Tunisia. “We need to analyse and train in a specific way to face Denmark and start again.”

His opposite number Jesper Jensen will be eager to know the level of his side as they face their toughest challenge yet but is in no doubt that his players will give their all.

“I’m pretty new in this job, I've been here for one and a half years, but what I've learned throughout the time is that that my team is working very hard and is very dedicated every time we have a chance to train together and we've seen that in the first two matches,” he said to ihf.info. 

“Korea will be a tough challenge but we've been enjoying (Spain 2021) so far and hopefully a lot more victories will come and we can see how long we can take it.”

One key element to the game will be the clash between Győr teammates on either side of the court with Denmark’s Anne Mette Hansen and Korea’s Ryu Eun-hee facing off and both players are looking forward to meeting up again.

“Eun-hee is really amazing, so sweet,” said Denmark’s Anne Mette Hansen about her club teammate at Győr and Korean leader, Ryu. “I really like the way she plays handball on the club level and she really helped us a lot. She's a really good player and we have to be really prepared when we meet her.

“We will try to be nice to each other outside but on the field it's a battle,” she added. “It's always fun to play against your teammate because you know each other and it's more a mental game who’s going to end on top, but I hope I can use the information I know of her and tell the teammates so we can beat them.”

“There are no friends on court,” added Eun-hee when shown the quotes, smiling. “However, I respect her fighting spirit that is the professional way to compete. So, through that competition, our team will develop as well. I’ll never know how the result will be as it depends on conditions in that time, but I’ll do my best.”