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Argentina dominate from start to finish, North Macedonia out

17 Jan. 2023

Argentina dominate from start to finish, North Macedonia out

Kiril Lazarov’s North Macedonia led for just 96 seconds against Argentina in this do-or-die clash to decide the third and final side through from preliminary group F into the main round of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship.

The Europeans knew that only a win would do, but they faced a Diego Simonet-led South American side who were inspired to their biggest-ever victory in an IHF Men’s World Championship against a European opposition, winning by nine goals (35:26). He later called the match “our World Championship final”.

Group F

North Macedonia vs Argentina 26:35 (11:18)

Nearly all the conversation surrounding this Macedonian side at Poland/Sweden 2023 had been about the new generation of players coming through and building a sense of unity within the team in Krakow, Poland.

That generation were taught a hard lesson in the Tauron Arena on Tuesday (17 January) night as Guillermo Milano’s Argentina team came firing out of the blocks and kept up a blistering pace for 60 minutes.

“They were better and deserved this victory,” said Macedonia’s captain Nikola Mitrevski after the match. “We should learn from this match; we have a lot to improve.”

Diego Simonet recorded his first win as Argentina captain, and it was one to remember – his eight goals and three assists highlighted his direct importance.

But Simonet is much more than that, helping his teammates in all aspects of the game, with the ball, without the ball, on and off court.

“Diego is one of the best centre backs in the world and when he shines, everything is better and we shine as well,” said Argentina’s Federico Pizarro to ihf.info.

“Today he played an unbelievable match and our performance was much better because of it. He gave again a big effort like he did in the last two matches, but this time it was it was just perfect.

“We left our hearts and minds out there and we managed to get a great result for the team,” added the 36-year-old. “During the first half we managed to get a great advantage which allowed us to win the match.”

The seven-goal (18:11) half-time lead included five out of five from Diego, as Lazarov was already under pressure, taking his first time out at 4:8 down (12th minute). Over the whistling and boos from the large number of Macedonian fans inside, the stats did not lie – just a single save from his goalkeepers and the team only shooting at 50%.

Argentina were operating at a higher level and opened up a double-digit lead (30:20) for the first in the 49th minute.

“Maybe that is our reality,” said Lazarov after the match. “Before the start of this World Championship, we were ranked last in this group. Argentina were ranked better than us, and at the moment they are better than us.

“We saw today that this new Macedonia with new, young players - eight players in their first World Championship – they have to work a lot to be like in the past. I didn’t expect us to win against the Netherlands and Argentina, but I was expecting us to lose by 3, 4, 5, 6 goals, but to lose by 10 goals, that is not the reality. We were not good in this World Championship.”

Argentina now move into the main round, while North Macedonia move into the President’s Cup.

hummel Player of the Match: Diego Simonet (Argentina)