Janc drives Slovenia to first main round win

GROUP II

Slovenia vs Hungary 35:32 (15:17)

H2H: 8-1-10
Top scorers: Blaž Janc 10/12 (SLO); Bence Imre 8/8 (HUN)
Goalkeeper saves: Jože Baznik 5/25, Miljan Vujović 2/13 (SLO); Kristóf Palasics 4/27, László Bartucz 1/8 (HUN)
POTM presented by Grundfos: Blaž Janc (SLO)

• although Slovenia had command in the second half, their win was not secure until Staš Jovičič scored for 35:32 with 26 seconds on the clock; inside the last five minutes, Hungary came within one more than once, latest at 33:32 in minute 59
• Hungary played seven-against-six throughout the match, mostly with great efficacy, as they conceded only a few empty-goal shots and Slovenia’s defence initially had no answer for the use of two line players
• the fact that few saves were made on either side — especially in the first 20 minutes, with only one stop at each end — initially worked in Hungary’s favour, as Hungary has strong attacking efficiency so Slovenia had no way of taking the upper hand
• the score fluctuated between level to a four-goal lead for Hungary, at 16:12 and 17:13 late in the first half; that four-goal distance was spurred by two of Palasics’s five saves, including a penalty
• improvement in their defence and saves from Baznik helped Slovenia to a 3:0 run at the start of the second half, taking them from one behind to an 18:17 lead for the first time since 2:0 in the fifth minute — and from there they kept the advantage

Echoes of EHF EURO history

Hungary and Slovenia are two of the teams with the richest Men’s EHF EURO history, having each missed only two editions of the event. Hungary have never played for a medal at the Men’s EHF EURO and recorded their highest ranking ever in 2024 when they placed fifth — beating Slovenia in the 5/6 placement match. Slovenia have reached the semi-finals twice, ranking fourth in 2020 and second in 2004.

Prior to the 5/6 play-off in 2024, Hungary and Slovenia’s most recent EHF EURO duel was in 2020, in main round group II, played in Malmö. On that occasion, Slovenia brought a perfect record from the preliminary round, while Hungary had dropped one point in the first stage but not lost any games. Both teams carried two points into the 2020 main round.

Then, Slovenia lost two main round matches but still made it into the top four. Hungary were defeated in three of the four main round games in 2020.

This time around, Slovenia brought two points into the second phase and Hungary zero. Slovenia have lost once and won once in the main round. Hungary have drawn once and now suffered defeat. That means the points situation for the teams is very similar to the Men’s EHF EURO six years ago.

Photos © kolektiff images