their way home and two teams who finished closer to the bottom of their groups now readying themselves for the Semi-Finals. 

Romania are one such side. After making their way through the preliminary round with two wins and three losses, with the two victories against Group D underdogs Kazakhstan and Puerto Rico, and the three defeats at the hands of European and Olympic champions Norway, European championship silver medallists Spain, and the Russian Federation, who came through the group phase as the only side to win all their matches, Romania squeezed into the first round of knock-out games. 

“I think we had the most difficult group, but for us this was good because every game we went up step by step, and this was good for us,” says Romania’s star goalkeeper Paula Ungureanu. 

In their Eighth-Final they came up against 2013 world champions Brazil, who they beat 25:22 to stun the Pan American team out of the competition. 

“It was very hard for us because we ended the group phase in fourth position – we lost three games in a row,” says Eliza Buceschi, a certain future star for Romania, who was selected as the Best Young Player in the Women’s EHF Champions League for the 2014/15 season. “Our confidence was not so high in that moment, but after, when we realised there was nothing lost, we just went on the court in the game against Brazil and proved that we can do it.”

Next they met the host team, Denmark, promising a difficult quarter-final against more than just seven players on court, but also near 12,000 Danish fans who made it clear which team they wanted to see qualify for the Semi-Finals. In a game that had most of the stadium on the edge of their seats for a good 20 minutes as the teams raced neck-and-neck toward the final whistle before proceeding into extra time, when Adriana Nechita secured the win for Romania with mere seconds left on the clock, Romania sent Denmark into the Placement Round – and confirmed their place as one of the top four teams at the championship. 

“I think it was an opportunity when we started with a second chance [in the knock-out round],” says Romania’s star goalkeeper Paula Ungureanu. “We have more power I think because we don’t have so much stress – all the pressure. For example, yesterday, all the pressure was on the Danish team. When you have 12,000 people behind you and you need to show something for these people…I think that was really big pressure for them. This helped us because we could stay calm and cool, and in the end it was really good for us.”

“In the game last night when we played against the home team we played against 12,000 Danish people,” agrees Buceschi. “It’s an amazing feeling. For me it’s the best moment of my career until now, and I really don’t want to stop because I feel that we can do more.”

The contrast in performance between some of the teams that have been knocked out, such as Russia, Brazil and France, in their group phase compared with semi-finalists like Romania and Poland, who freely admit they were not at their best in the preliminary round, is interesting. Moreover, it highlights one important characteristic of champion teams – the ability to play at the top of their game when it counts. 

“Everything is about the strategy. Of course we didn’t want to lose those three games, but it was like that,” says Buceschi. “I think this year was very good for us and also for Poland. Like I said after the game against Brazil, it wasn’t fair for them because it was their first loss in the tournament and they had to go home – but this is life, this is sport, and we are moving on and we are really happy that we did it.”

Buceschi points to their last IHF World Championship campaign, at Serbia 2013, when they finished higher on their group table but were eliminated in the Eighth-Final, to show just how important it is to be able to rise to the challenge of the knock-out round. But anyone who has seen Romania on court cannot deny that despite the fact that they may not have consistently ranked at the top at recent major international tournaments, they have been a major force to be reckon. 

“I think every year we’ve had a really good team but something was missing,” says Ungureanu. “All the time we lost by one goal and we could not go far. But this year we talked together, and we believed in each other, and I think this is the difference now – I think we are now stronger as a team.”

Buceschi says new coach Tomas Ryde, who became head coach of the team in March this year, has been a key part of that improvement:

“He’s amazing. He helped us and you can see it – there’s a big difference in how we play. But I think that the main reason for how we play right now is because he worked a lot with our minds. He’s talking about good things all the time, he really believes in us – and we can see that, we can feel that. He’s so calm all the time. Also last night when it was drawn he was very, very calm. It’s amazing to look on the bench and see that he’s there, and he can tell you the right thing in the right moment. I really think this is the main reason for why we are working so great together and feeling so good together.”

Romania play their Semi-Final, against Group D opponents Norway, at 20:45 local time in Jyske Bank BOXEN, Herning on Friday 18 December.