Dominant Denmark deliver huge win against Romania to end preliminary round in style

Creating a flawless 12:2 run between the 15th minute and the break, Denmark secured their third win in as many matches, 39:23, totally outplaying Romania, in the last match of Group E at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship.

GROUP F
Denmark vs Romania 39:23 (21:10)

Overly confident after two commanding wins against Chile and Serbia, which helped Romania produce the best average of goals scored after two rounds, 40.5 goals per match, Florentin Pera’s side entered the match against Denmark, which concluded the preliminary round in the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning with huge expectations.

Denmark knew that their slow start against Serbia caused them huge issues in the opening match of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, therefore Jesper Jensen’s side knew fully well that they needed something else against Romania and cruised to a 4:1 lead, courtesy of a sharp defence, to force Florentin Pera to take a team time-out early in the match, after less than five minutes.

It worked wonders for Romania, which tied the score, 4:4, but Denmark bounced back, as star back Kristina Jorgensen entered the match and shone on the court and put everything into place, as Denmark used a 2:0 run to create another two-goal lead, 7:5. Romania cancelled that lead, 7:7, but it was the last time when the score was tied, with the Scandinavian side realising that Romania’s back line was not firing from all cylinders.

Indeed, from the 9-metre line, Romania had only two goals from 10 shots at the end of the first half, which caused Denmark to sit deep and try to block the three Romania centre backs trying to break through. Moreover, goalkeeper Sandra Toft started to be on a roll, conceding only twice in the last 15 minutes of the first half.

Boasting an attacking efficiency of 72%, Denmark delivered an impeccable last 15 minutes in the first part of the game, as the gap grew exponentially, as their opponents were left reeling, with a plethora of changes confusing what was left of Romania’s attack.

Denmark’s 12:2 run to end the first half was the pivotal moment of the match, with Romania left without answers, totally outpaced and clinching for a breath of fresh air in attack, as the co-hosts’ goalkeeper, Sandra Toft (46% saving efficiency) and Althea Reinhardt (83% saving efficiency) shone until the 45th minute.

By that time, Denmark had a 30:17 lead, which eventually turned into a 16-goal win for Jesper Jensen’s side, which confirmed their credentials for a title challenge at this edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship. In turn, this was Romania’s third worst loss in the history of the competition, with the record still set at Brazil 2011, when they conceded a 19-goal loss against France.

With three wins in three matches, and their level growing on a match-to-match basis, Denmark cruised to the main round, where they start with four points in their account, as many as Germany, as the two European sides look to be the favourites to clinch quarter-finals spots.

Romania and Poland will have two points in Group III, as Florentin Pera’s side need to overcome this loss in order to achieve their objective, a quarter-finals berth, especially as star Cristina Neagu is set to be ready to return in the squad, after missing all of the three preliminary round matches.

hummel Player of the Match: Kristina Jorgensen (Denmark)