Right wing Jovanka Radicevic had a bittersweet Sunday afternoon for Krim Mercator Ljubljana in group A of the EHF Champions League Women against Odense Håndbold.
While Radicevic broke Anita Görbicz’s record to become the all-time top goalscorer in the EHF Champions League Women, she could not stop the Danish side from emerging with a 29:23 win after a flawless second half.
GROUP A
Krim Mercator Ljubljana (SLO) vs Odense Håndbold (DEN) 23:29 (15:11)
- 36-year-old Radicevic, the All-Star right wing at the EHF EURO 2022, scored her 1,017th goal in the EHF Champions League Women to leapfrog Anita Görbicz as the competition's all-time top goalscorer
- the key to the match looked to be a 10:2 run for Krim between the eighth and 23rd minutes, as goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart boasted a 50 per cent save efficiency for Krim, with the Danish side's attack efficiency dropping to a meagre 44 per cent
- but a 15:6 run to start the second half for Odense turned the game on its head. The Danish champions never backed down and delivered a superb comeback, led by Norwegian line player Maren Aardahl, who scored six times in the match
- with their third win in a row, Odense tied their best winning run in the history of Europe's premier competition, set in September 2020
- at the halfway point of the group phase, Krim have won only twice in seven games. Dragan Adzic’s side have conceded three losses in their last four matches, and they are definitely struggling at both ends of the court
Hit and miss for Radicevic on historic afternoon
In her 19th season in the EHF Champions League Women, Jovanka Radicevic is still making history. The right wing, who was in the All-Star team at the EHF EURO in 2012, 2020 and 2022, became the all-time top goalscorer in the EHF Champions League with her fourth goal against Odense.
Radicevic achieved the milestone in the 37th minute with a trademark shot from the right wing. The 1,017th goal in her career in the EHF Champions League Women broke Anita Görbicz’s record of 1,016 goals, but the two former Györ teammates are the only players in history that have scored at least 1,000 goals in the competition.
However, the right wing also missed five shots in the game and they proved costly. Odense bounced back admirably in the second half to seal their third consecutive win and pile even more pressure on Krim.
The game was a bit hectic from our side at the beginning. Krim came with a lot of pressure and played great in the attack. They also had many saves, which made it difficult for us. But when we changed to the 5-1 defence, we got more aggressive and we interrupted Krim’s flow in the attack. Ultimately, that was the key for us, and we brought the confidence from our defence to our attack – especially in the second half.
We did not manage to play the whole match in the way that we talked about. In the second half, we did not have the right answer in defence. We did expect this, but we did not train hard and this is my responsibility. I believe in a better performance from Krim and I expect a better match in Denmark next weekend.
