Croatia secured both their first and their biggest win at the IHF Women’s World Championship since 2011, after starting slow, but bouncing back against Paraguay, 38:16.

The South American side’s journey at Spain 2021 will probably continue in the President’s Cup, bar from a huge win against rivals Brazil on Monday, while Croatia are virtually assured of a main round berth.

GROUP G
Paraguay vs Croatia 16:38 (5:15)

The dream of winning the first game against a European side was on for Paraguay in the first 12 minutes against Croatia, when the South American team took advantage of each and every one of their opponent’s mistakes to take an unexpected 3:2 lead after 11 minutes.

Yet the dream, as Paraguay might have already suspected, could not last, against a more experienced team, who just needed a small jolt to really turn up on the court and turn the game on its head.

In this case, it was not a timeout called by coach Nenad Sostaric, but a conscious decision took by the Croatian players to start playing better defence. Therefore, when that happened, Paraguay were stopped in their tracks, missing shot after shot, while also turning the ball over eight times.

Sure, Croatia made their share of mistakes in attack, but they used a 10:0 run that spanned 14 minutes and 14 seconds to really seal the deal, as right wing Ana Turk and centre back Valentina Blazevic combined for eight goals to lift Croatia to a huge 12:3 lead.

As goalkeeper Tea Pijevic saved six shots, for an outstanding 55% saving efficiency, Croatia continued to be in cruise control mode, keeping Paraguay at bay. With three penalty saves from the six she faced, Pijevic was superb, but it was also the attack who carried Croatia.

They posted a superb 75% shooting efficiency, with Valentina Blazevic and Turk, the hummel Player of the Match, each scoring six goals. Eventually, it was a straightforward procession for the European side, who clinched their first win at the IHF Women’s World Championship since 2011, 38:16.

However, Croatia lost right wing Josipa Mamic, who suffered a knee injury with only 18 seconds to go in the game, while trying to score one last goal for her side.

With two points after two matches, Croatia are now virtually in the main round, as Paraguay, who are now last and have a -45 goal difference, need a huge win against Brazil in the last round to proceed.

Croatia will hope to boost their chances for a knockout phase ticket with a win against Japan on Monday.

hummel Player of the Match: Ana Turk, Croatia

Photo: RFEBM / Á. Bermejo