FIVE BACKGROUNDS to the Russians win the final match against the Norwegians
one. A year ago, the Russian team won the World Cup in St. Petersburg with brilliance, in which the Norwegian team, which started rejuvenation, looked unconvincing and became only the ninth. The composition of teams compared to that tournament has changed slightly.
2. The basis of the Russian national team is made up of immigrants from the youth national teams of the country, who have won the title of world champions at the last three world championships. In other words, Russian women's handball has been unrivaled at the youth level for six years now. Most Russians have the experience of confident victories over Norwegian peers, who are now confronting them at an adult level.
3. The 2006 UEFA gold not only brought Russians the second most important top title, but also gave a ticket to Olympic Beijing, eliminating the battle for it a year later at the World Championships in France or, even more troublesome, two months before the Olympics at the IHF qualification tournament . Note that the Russian team has never before made it to the Olympic tournaments.
four. The Norwegian national team missed out on the 2006 European Championships for such experienced key players as Vigdis Harsaker, Elizabeth Hilmo and Katya Nyberg (injury in the first match). And in the 7th minute of the final, due to an injury, Gro Hammerseng left the court, who was named, despite this, the best player in the second European championship in a row.
five. Both teams without defeats held all seven of their previous fights. However, the Russians had two matches that did not solve anything in the tournament sense, and they had the opportunity to preserve the leading players. Whereas the situation in the table forced the Norwegians to play for victory every time, wasting more strength and emotions.
FIVE REASONS for the defeat of the Russian team in the final match against the Norwegians
1. The Russians were not ready for the rivalry tactics chosen by their rivals - with sharp and tough outings on the throwers. As a result, the Norwegians rather easily hobbled the Russian back line, forced it to go astray on individual actions and completely broke ties with the constantly changing extreme and linear, abandoned by six total ... 3 goals.
2. The coaching staff did not decide on the priority combination of players, as a result of which the lineup was shuffled without a visible effect and logic throughout the game.
3. Goalkeepers Inna Suslina (named, by the way, the best in the championship) and Maria Sidorova could not stand comparison with the Norwegian counterpart Catherine Lund: reliability indicators - 27% and 38%. The difference in the reliability of the last frontier was largely determined by the success of the defense: the Norwegians carried out 10 goal counterattacks, the Russians - just one!
4. The early injury of Gro Hammerseng puzzled not the Norwegians, as one might expect, but their rivals. Having lost the main point guard and the scorer, the Scandinavians mobilized in a striking manner, played on a desperate influx and floated reserves about which the Russian players seemed to have no idea.
5. The sharpest contrast of the match was the difference in the capacity of coaching staffs. Marit Breivik and her assistants were calm and logical in every decision. Yevgeny Trefilov and Vitaly Krokhin looked depressed and set the team in the mood for floating. The apotheosis of coaching incompetence was the timeout taken by the Norwegians 20 seconds before the break. The Russian team was to spend this segment on the defensive. And her coach for some reason spent a whole minute examining the shortcomings of the game of the wards in a positional offensive, for which he had a whole break ahead of him. Norwegians, of course, played the last attack of the half, as if by notes, and threw an important ball. It is noteworthy that in the second half, when the Russians more than once had chances to turn the tide of the match (5 minutes before the siren they reduced the gap to the ball!), Their coaches did not use the right to time out at all ...
Handball. Women. Europe championship. Final match
NORWAY - RUSSIA - 27:24 (16:12)
December 17th. Stockholm. "Holet-Arena". 4727 viewers.
RUSSIA: Suslina, Sidorova; Poltoratskaya (6/3), Romenskaya, Postnova, Kareeva (4), Bodnieva (1), Andryushina (2), Polenova (6/3), Turey (1), Shipilova, Marennikova (1), Yakovlev, Bliznova (3 )
NORWAY: Cat . Lunde, Grimsbo; A. Johansen (3/2), Omodt (3), Lübeck (1), Breivang, Cr. Lunde (4), Hammerseng, K. Johansen (9), Frafjord, Rigelhut (3), Rokne (4/2) .
JUDGES: Baum, Guralchik (Poland). PENALTY TIME: 8: 4. PENALTI: 4/5: 6/7.
GAME PROGRESS : 0: 2, 3: 2, 4: 4, 7: 4, 7: 6, 10: 6, 13: 7, 15: 9, 15:12, 16:12 - 19:15, 19:17 , 22:18, 25:22, 25:24 (55 '), 27:24.
RUSSIAN TEAM AT THE 2006 European Championship: Elena Polenova - 34 goals / 8 matches, Irina Poltoratskaya - 32/6, Irina Bliznova - 22/8, Emilia Turey - 20/8, Ekaterina Andryushina - 20/7, Lyudmila Bodnieva - 18/7, Ekaterina Marennikova - 18/7, Lyudmila Postnova - 16/8, Zhanna Yakovleva - 16/8; Natalya Shipilova - 11/7, Anna Kareeva - 14/8, Oksana Romenskaya - 7/8, Polina Vyakhireva - 7/3, Olga Levina - 7/2; goalkeepers: Inna Suslina - 8 matches, Maria Sidorova - 8.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP. 1. Norway. 2. Russia. 3. France. 4. Germany. 5. Hungary. 6. Sweden. 7. Croatia. 8. Poland. 9. Spain. 10. Austria. 11. Denmark. 12. Macedonia. 13. Ukraine. 14. Serbia. 15. Holland. 16. Slovenia.