Yugoslavia - France 27-29 (12-14)

Aarhus, DENMARK, December 10 (official 2002 European Women's Handball Championship website) - In a great and exciting match France proved that they have the ability to contend for the title whereas Yugoslavia wasted too many 100 % chances. More than 10 times a Yugoslav player was in a one on one with the French goalkeeper without scoring.

France were more efficient when it came to putting away their chances and this gave the French a 29 - 27 victory. This result will put a lot of pressure on the Yugoslav team in the next two matches and France keep their dream of a place in the top four alive.

Yugoslavia have a very skillful team with great players in all the positions but they did not play like a team in tonight's match. Their normal offensive way of playing in the defence was not successful and the players did not look like they wanted a place in the semi finals.

The two teams played neck and neck throughout the first half and it was only in the final minutes that France were better and managed to push ahead.

At the press conference Olivier Krumbholz was extremely pleased with his team and highlighted the goalkeeper, Valerie Nicolas, as his star player. "It seems like our tactics were correct. We did not allow our opponent to play their kind of game, and that was the only way France could beat Yugoslavia. Seen from outside Yugoslavia is a better team than France, but we played a great match today," he said.

In the second half Yugoslavia played a lot better and after 45 minutes the Yugoslavian team went into the lead at 20 - 19. In the last minutes of the match

France played very well in the defence and it made it possible for the French to secure a surprising victory over the Yugoslav favourites.

In the French team, a lot of players played at a high level with players like Stephanie Ludwig playing her best in the tournament so far. For the Yugoslavs, players like Tanja Milanovic did her best to keep her country in the match, helped by the strong back Tatjana Medved. The other Yugoslavs have been playing better games, and there will be a lot of work for coach Marko Isakovic before his team plays Ukraine tomorrow.

"Two days ago we played fantastically, but we did not do that today," the Yugoslav coach, Marko Isakovic said after the exciting match. "I am not at all satisfied with my team. We still have the chance of reaching the semi-finals, but is will be uphill the rest of the way."

Second Round, Gameday 1

Group One:
Austria - Ukraine 32-19
France - Yugoslavia 29-27
Denmark - Romania 25-23

Current Standings

 
                        G   W   D   L    F-A    Pts
         1. Denmark     3   3   0   0   72-63    6 
         2. Yugoslavia  3   2   0   1   89-77    4 
         3. France      3   2   0   1   70-68    4 
         4. Austria     3   1   0   2   76-76    2 
         5. Romania     3   1   0   2   75-78    2 
         6. Ukraine     3   0   0   3   63-83    0

 
                             G   W   D   L    F-A    Pts
         1. Norway           3   3   0   0   77-56    6 
         2. Russia           3   2   0   1   82-75    4 
         3. Hungary          3   2   0   1   93-93    4 
         4. Slovenia         3   1   0   2   78-82    2 
         5. Chech Republic   3   1   0   2   71-80    2 
         6. Germany          3   0   0   3   66-81    0