Yugoslavia - Denmark 25-28 (11-14)

Aalborg, DENMARK, December 12 (official 2002 European Women's Handball Championship website) - The last match of Group I ended up with a win for the Danes and a place in the semi-final as winner of the group. Yugoslavia could have reached the final four with a draw. The Yugoslavs, however, were never near the crucial victory and the Danes played a nice match at both ends.

Karin Mortensen, the Danish goalkeeper, was once again the best player on the field, and she is at the moment definitely the best goalkeeper in the world. She was unbelievable for the first ten minutes of the match and held Yugoslavia on two goals for the first ten minutes. Later in the match she continued her world class goalkeeping, and only Bojana Petrovic was able to score past 'Morten' as she is called in the team. A world class performance from Karin Mortensen.

Yugoslavia played as always with a strong defence and in periods of the game they managed to pressurise the Danish players. In the end the Danes had the greatest patience and made the most of their chances.

"We can do nothing but congratulate the Danes. They were the best team on the day and we never found out how to beat Karin Mortensen in the Danish goal," coach, Marco Isakovic, said just after the match.

In the Danish team, players like Heidi Johansen and Kathrine Fruelund did a marvellous job in the defence, and it was on this defence that the Danes founded their victory.

"Our counter attacks were pretty good today and I think we made Yugoslavia look like a much worse team than they are used to. My players played very well although they are getting mentally tired. It is a hard job to play in the Arena when almost 5000 people want to see you win. The spectators were tremendous once again and the pressure they put on our opponents can be worth gold for us in the end. They are super," said a happy Danish national coach, Jan Pytlick, at the press conference.

On Saturday, Denmark take on Russia and it will be the toughest challenge yet for the home team. Russia have been playing very well in the main round in Farum and must be the favourites for the final.

The Danish coach, Jan Pytlick, is not at all pessimistic.

"If we can deliver the same pressure in the semi-final as we did today, there is a fair chance that you will see us in the final. The spectators can help us take the last step into the final, if they support us in the same way as they have done tonight. I will be a hard battle, but we proved tonight that we can play against one of the best teams in the world. Then why not play a great match against Russia and hope it is enough for a place in the final," Pytlick said before he went to celebrate the good result with his team.

Second Round, Gameday 3 - Results and Final Standings

Group One
Romania - Ukraine 19-17
Austria - France 30-22
Denmark - Yugoslavia 28-25.

Final Standings

  
                      G   W   D   L    F-A      Pts
      1. Denmark      5   5   0   0  126-108    10  
      2. France       5   3   0   2  121-124     6       
      3. Yugoslavia   5   3   0   2  153-129     6  
      4. Romania      5   2   0   3  120-124     4  
      5. Austria      5   2   0   3  126-124     4  
      6. Ukraine      5   0   0   5  104-141     0 

                       G   W   D   L    F-A      Pts
    1. Norway          5   5   0   0  135-103    10 
    2. Russia          5   4   0   1  138-116     8               
    3. Hungary         5   3   0   2  146-142     6 
    4. Chech Republic  5   2   0   3  120-129     4 
    5. Slovenia        5   1   0   4  124-143     2 
    6. Germany         5   0   0   5  111-141     0