The handball players did not mourn, but they knew that the Dutch beat them by a class difference. “We realized what the world handball is like. But we could have performed a little better,” Czech midfielder Markéta Šustáčková assessed for ČT. “For me, the Netherlands are one of the favorites of the entire championship,” she praised the strength of her opponents.
The Czech team initially led 2:1, but then the favorite dominated. Dahl’s charges kept pace in the score until the 19th minute, when Šustáčková reduced the score to 7:8. Then the Czechs began to struggle offensively, throwing away even the most obvious chances and scoring the only goal in the last ten minutes of the first half.
Cholevová scored four goals in the opening act, on the other hand, captain Jeřábková was not successful, as she did not score in the first half. The Netherlands, the ninth team from last year’s World Championship, took advantage of the Czechs’ woes in attack and built a 14:8 lead before the break.
At the beginning of the second act, the Czech players were still able to get closer in score and in the 42nd minute, after a goal by Jeřábkova, they reduced the score to 16:20. But the Dutch then scored a series of four goals and finally decided. In the end, the resigned Czechs struggled and their loss eventually grew to more than a double-digit difference.
The team will carry over two points to the next stage of the championship, which will be four six-man eight-final groups. The Czech Republic will start the round of 16 against Ukraine on Wednesday, Spain on Friday and Brazil on Sunday.
“It was a great school and I’m glad that I could play against such players. Unfortunately, the result counts for everything. We didn’t perform well. The opponents are at a completely different level than us,” said Petra Kudláčková, goalkeeper of the national team, conciliatoryly after the match . “However, the result is a bit cruel,” she added.
2023-12-04 19:06:55
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