France defeated Serbia at the Palau d’Esports in Granollers on Saturday night (22:19) to make it through to yet another major championship quarter-final and send Serbia home in a highlight match of the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship so far.
 
“Before the match it was so difficult to prepare for them (France) because they have so many good backs and run like hell,” said Serbia coach Uros Bregar. “I am really proud of my team we played a really good last 10 minutes of the first half but they pushed us hard.”
 
His Serbia side came into Spain 2021 with a turnaround in squad players and took the fight to France on Saturday night knowing a win would put them in a key position for the final eight.
 
A three-goal half-time lead (12:9) from Serbia had given the French players their first taste of a half-time deficit at Spain 2021 but it was quickly evaporated by the Olympic champions at the beginning of the second half and in a back-and-forth final 25 minutes, France prevailed.
 
MAIN ROUND GROUP I
Serbia vs France 19:22 (12:9)
 
Such was the concern and passion for his side shown by Olivier Krumbholz, the France coach was shown a yellow card shortly after he had taken a time out (22nd minute) with his side 9:8 up, but aware that problems were brewing.
 
Coach Krumbholz may have wished he had four time outs in the 60 minutes as Serbia prevented his side from scoring for nearly half of the first 30 minutes, ending the half on a 6:0 run to enter the break ahead (6:9 to 12:9) and leave France wondering what had gone wrong.
 
A scoring rate of just 47% in the first period was one key factor, as was Jovana Risovic in the Serbian goal (eight saves), but whatever the issue was, it was addressed in the quickest time possible in the second half as the French went on that full-of-fire 4:0 run, forcing Serbia coach Uros Bregar to take an early time out (34th minute).
 
This woke up Serbia from their half-time slumber and from that point on the game was matched, punctuated by moments of sublime Serbian skill – such as the extra-special Kristina Liscevic, whose poise to lob the ball over the onrushing French goalkeeper to make it 18:17 (51st minute) and further saves from Risovic – plus the frustration of Krumbholz as his side failed to convert their hard-earned opportunities in front of goal. At times he was left, literally, scratching his head.
 
However, the turning point not only came with key saves from Cleopatre Darleux but Serbia’s own technical mistakes which saw them fail to capitalise on their possession six times (50th-58th minute) and not score.
 
“The end of the first half was terrible for us because we lost six goals,” said Krumbholz. “In the money time Cleopatre Darleux was good, as was Grace Zaadi (Duena) and Meline Nocandy. We had a lot of pressure on this game, I don’t know why, it was not the best French game but we have the victory and I am very proud because the players are very strong in the mind.”
 
Serbia’s Kristina Liscevic looked at the potential of her young side, despite the disappointment with the loss. “We wanted to show how big our heart was and how much we are counting on our young players in the future, that they really have a future,” she said. “I am feeling really proud of this match.”
 
hummel Player of the Match: Tamara Radojevic, Serbia