However, when the co-hosts found their rhythm, it was a one-way street for Kristijan Grchevski's squad. Hungary win 29:19 and take two points to the main round, while the Macedonians are eliminated.
GROUP A
North Macedonia vs Hungary 19:29 (10:11)
- the Macedonians took the co-hosts by surprise at the start of the match, leading until the 23rd minute
- even though Hungary's coach Vlagyimir Golovin started with his first-choice backline formed by Katrin Klujber, Petra Vamos and Csenge Kuczora, they struggled to get past Hungarian goalkeeper Dragana Petkovska, who made six saves in the first half
- Kristijan Grchevski tried to outsmart Vlagyimir Golovin in the second half by playing seven against six, but without significant success
- the game marked Elena Gjorgjijevska's final appearance in the Macedonian national team's shirt as the experienced right back retires from international handball
- Nadine Szollosi-Schatzl scored six goals and the left wing was chosen as the Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos
Experience overshadows youth as Lionesses bow out
It is fair to say that the Macedonians had their best EHF EURO 2024 performance in the first half against Hungary in Debrecen, riding high on the confidence brought by their draw with Türkiye on Saturday.
But their lack of experience showed in the second half, when Hungary’s strength in depth paid dividends for the co-hosts. Vlagyimir Golovin was able to rotate freely and use all his squad extensively.
The Macedonians are, alongside the Faroe Islands, the youngest squad at the EHF EURO with an average age of only 23.1 years and four teenagers in the roster. That compared to an average age of 26 for Hungary, and the extra three years showed. However, there is surely a bright future for the Lionesses.
The first half was very good for us, we fought for 30 minutes. The second half was a little bit off, we made many mistakes, we gave them the ball. They scored really easy goals so I think that made a really big difference and I also think we had too many suspensions in the second half.
We missed a lot of shots, but on the other hand we had a good defence and only received 10 goals in the first half, which really held us in the game. In the second half we could turn this around, we were more efficient with the shots and this is why we can go home happy today.
