Montenegro, surprise at the Pre-Olympic Tournament! Calculations for Romania

• Romania plays the first game on Saturday, at 8:30 pm, against Norway;
• The decisive match is on Sunday, starting at 17:00, against Montenegro. Both are liveTEXT on GSP.ro and live on Prima TV
• The top two teams in the group qualify for the women’s handball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics.

Norway is not used to qualifying for the Olympics. So far, the most consistent team in recent years has obtained tickets to the final tournaments of the European or World Championships. Now that the Nordics have qualified, they are about to crash. The European champion was unrecognizable in Podgorica. Nothing worked in the Nordic game, not the defense, not the attack, not the goal.

Montenegro, handball lesson for Norway

Montenegro, a team with many young women in the group, led the game back and forth and gave the Norwegians no chance. Goalkeeper Ljubica Nenezici, who plays for Dunărea Brăila, right-back Andrea Klikovac, from CSM Bucharest, but also the future pivot of the “tigers”, Ema Ramusovici, played an excellent game. Veterans Radicevici-Mehmedovici-Jaukovici were also at the top.

Montenegro’s defense in the central zone worked perfectly, and Norway was forced to open the game to the extremes. But there he failed incredibly, scoring 6 goals from 15 shots. Norway’s pivots did not exist on the field either, despite the fact that Brattset plays in Gyor, and Frafjord and Ingstad also have a lot of international experience.

Romania’s optimistic precedent

Montenegro won 28-23, a difference that largely brings them qualification for the Olympics. For Romania, we don’t even know how to catalog the result. If Neagu and company win tomorrow, with a goal, Norway is eliminated and the last match between Norway and Romania will be a holiday. But if Norway wins against Romania, Romania will be forced to defeat Montenegro. Then it will reach a three position ranking, on goal average, and any goal will count.

In 2016, in the qualifications for the Danish Olympics, Romania and Montenegro defeated host country Denmark in the first two days and qualified together in Rio de Janeiro. Should the scenario be repeated with another Nordic team?

How to qualify Romania for the Olympics: all the calculations

The surprising result of Norway – Montenegro turned Romania’s calculations upside down. The “tricolores” were betting on a victory against the hosts, since the dispute with the Nordics seemed a sacrifice. Right now, the rating options have decreased:

• if Romania defeats Norway, they qualify for the Olympics;
• if Romania ties with Norway, a failure with Montenegro to a maximum of 4 goals is enough. We can also qualify with a 5-goal defeat, if we score 24 goals;
• if they lose to Norway, Romania must defeat Montenegro. A tie would be reached at 3, in which case the main criterion would be the average of goals.

VIDEO. How Norway lost the match with Montenegro

Who participates in the other tournaments:

• Group 1: Sweden, Spain, Argentina
• Group 2: Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Kazakhstan
• Group 3: Norway, Romania, Montenegro

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