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Two matchdays, two venues, two wins for Hungary

18 Jul. 2019

Two matchdays, two venues, two wins for Hungary

Hungary move venue for second matchday, but the Pavillon Municipal de Deportes de Pontevedra provides another happy hunting ground with a second Hungarian win in two matchdays.

GROUP C
Kosovo vs Hungary 21:36 (9:20)

Despite being older on average than their Hungarian counterparts, Kosovo’s debut at a world championship and the difference between the more experienced and established handball teams at this level and them was clear with their match against Hungary a clear indicator of what is needed at this level to compete.

However, it was the physical aspect which was one of the key differences between these two teams with the average weight difference (95.8kg for Hungary, 79.1kg for Kosovo) making it hard for the Kosovan attack to break through the Hungarian defensive wall, and the Hungarian attack able to push through the Kosovan defence.

With a 6:0 run by the eighth minute, rounded off by three in a row from Miklos Rosta, Hungary showed that strength in attack and made it an uphill struggle for their opponents early on (6:1 – eighth minute). They then put the game beyond any doubt under 10 minutes later when they went up by 10 (13:3 – 17th minute).

Worse was to come for Kosovo though as their leader, and captain Jon Muqolli, was shown a direct red card for a challenge on Daniel Kecskes in the 23rd minute. The challenge had come after their impressive goalkeeper Flakrim Beqiraj had made two saves from the Hungarian attack, but both had rebounded to the Hungarian attack.

At this point, the difference was still 10 (15:5) and with their talisman off court, Kosovo were affected, but they managed to not let the deficit slip much further up to the break (20:9).

In the second half, eventually, Janos Gyurka’s side powered forward, and did not go below a double-figure lead for the last 20 minutes as Kosovo finally succumbed to the depth of the Hungarian bench. Another 6:0 run put Hungary up by 14 (29:15 – 49th minute) to ensure the final 10 minutes was played with ease.

“We expected it to be a tough match against Hungary and it has been,” said Fatmir Muhaxheri, Kosovo coach to SpainHandball19.com after the match. “The red card demoralised us a little, but we kept fighting until the end. However, Hungary deserves the victory as they have been superior to us.”

For Gyurka, the win was all about maintaining the winning feeling. “Our main goal here is to keep a world championship momentum,” he said. “It was an important dynamic we had from the match.”

Zsolt Schaffer top-scored with eight for Hungary, while Atdhe Basholli scored five for the Kosovans.

Best Player of the Match: Peter Toth (HUN)