Slovenia dispatch Angola, move to main round

Slovenia sealed their passage through to the main round of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship with their second, consecutive win in Preliminary Round Group D in Stavanger, Norway, defeating Angola by six (30:24).

Group D
Slovenia vs Angola 30:24 (14:11)

Last Thursday night Slovenia were kept in check by Iceland before powering to a six-goal, 30:24 victory. On Saturday afternoon, they did exactly the same against the African champions Angola.

This has been done without their influential captain, Ana Gros, who is nursing a hamstring injury and was a vocal, motivational and energetic support from the spectator seats in the DNB Arena.

With just one goal in the first five minutes, this contest threated to be a low-scoring, defensive affair, but as both teams warmed up, so did the score.

A 3:0 scoring run gave the European side their first lead, prompting an Angola time out (18th minute) and with the score within one (8:7 to Slovenia) in the 22nd minute, Dragan Adzic saw his side subsequently step up with six different scorers in a 6:1 scoring run to make it 14:8 just six minutes later (28th).

A trio of unanswered goals from the Nelson Catito’s Angola halved the deficit as the teams went into the break, but these were added to a 5:1 run in the early part of the second half as Angola powered ahead (16:15, 37th minute) led by the superb trio of Albertine Kassoma on the line, Isabel Guialo pulling the strings in the middle and Azenaide Carlos from the back court.

Adzic used this moment to take a time out for his side, with a clearly frustrated Gros on the sidelines doing her best to will on her team.

The teams were locked (21:21) going into the final 10 minutes, but as they did against Iceland, Slovenia then stepped up again – buoyed on by Adzic, who took his emotions a little too far when he was handed a two-minute suspension for his antics on the sideline.

A 9:3 run in the last 10 minutes saw them power through to another two points, despite some sublime finishing from Angolan captain Guialo.

The result means that the IHF Women’s World Championship record between the two teams is now equal. In five meetings, Slovenia have won two, Angola have won two and they have drawn once.

hummel Player of the Match: Isabel Evelize Wangimba Guialo (Angola)