Jeřábková and Malá help Czechia clinch main round spot

Czechia progressed from the preliminary round at the IHF Women's World Championship for the fifth time in history, becoming the first team from Group H to book the main round ticket, with their second win in two matches, 31:22, against Argentina.

GROUP H
Czechia vs Argentina 31:22 (16:10)

Czechia's top player, Marketa Jeřábková, who was also the MVP of the EHF FINAL4 in 2022, opened the game with two easy goals and set the tone for what was about to follow, but Argentina quickly updated their defensive system, forcing the European side to create other avenues to the goal.

Up until the 13th minute, both sides looked to be up to the task, but as the time passed, Argentina proved their frailties in both attack and defence, as cracks began to show in their armour, failing to score for five minutes. A double-save from goalkeeper Petra Kudláčková provided an extra motivation for Czechia and from that moment on, the South American side started to feel more and more pressure in the attack, resorting to shots which did not have a high chance to go in. 

Argentina's problems were there on display when Czechia got two players out due to suspensions and managed to score, as the lead continued to grow until the end of the first half, with Bent Dahl's team taking a 16:10 lead at the break.

The same dynamic continued in the second half, as Argentina were trying everything to stop their opponents, constantly tweaking their style, including bringing an aggressive 4-2 defence, which failed to yield results, as Czechia maintained their pace and had no problem adapting to new situations on the court.

They further widened the gap and continued to pounce until they reached the first double-digit lead (29:19) with ten minutes to go on the clock. Argentina's back court players found their strong shots a little too late, but they did improve their side's overall efficiency despite losing by an 11-goal margin.

Czechia, which have two wins out of two matches, will try to win the group in their last round encounter against the Netherlands. If the Dutch players beat Congo later today, Argentina will fight for the last main round spot against the African side, with the two winners and the two losing teams from the first two matches clashing in the last round of Group H.
 

Bent Dahl was satisfied with Czechia's game and he confirmed it at the press conference after the game: “I am very happy. We have many young players that are stepping up. Everybody was telling us we were the favourite but we were not. We learn by playing. For us, this was like a mini final as we needed to win to secure the main round. In the end, our good defensive display allowed us to claim a win.”

“We have a team that is a mix of experienced and young players. Some of them are playing for the first time at this level. We need more games like this to improve. We still have oscillations throughout the game. We made a lot of turnovers and they scored easily,” shared Argentina's head coach Eduardo Gallardo.

hummel Player of the Match: Veronika Malá (Czechia)