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Danish selector: We have to win all three second stage matches

Denmark are entering the main stage of the European championship with just a point, and will face Poland, Hungary and Sweden there. If they want to reach the semifinals, they have to beat all three, and also have the other matches end favorably

Denmark lost their last group match against their 'eternal' Scandinavian rival Norway, significantly reducing their odds of getting to the semifinal and reaching one of the medals. However, up to the 25th minute of that game, they seemed to have no weak point.

They had a functional defense, for which Norway's starting perimeter lineup of Mork, Kristianasen and Oftedal had no solution, so they ended their possessions mostly through experienced pivot Loke. The second half was ruled by Norway's goalie Silja Solberg, who closed the gate and was the best player of the match with 19 saves.



In the first 13 minutes of the second half Denmark managed to score just two goals, which is simply too few if you wish to beat Norway. Burgaard was the best scorer on the Danish team with 4 goals, followed by Stine and Line Jorgensen with 3 each. Burgaard left the court with a bloody nose in the finish of the match, and there was a danger that her nose was broken, but the doctor's report was positive, so the right back will be ready to play against Poland. Having in mind the points they have and that just the top two teams from each group go to the semifinal, Denmark have no more room for error.


- We simply have to win all three main round matches, but we will still depend on the outcomes of the other matches. It looks difficult, but we'll keep fighting for as long as there is a chance to advance further- said coach Pytlick.


Poland have shown they have the heart, character, and incredible persistence, and fully deserved their first victory in the championship against their direct rival, Russia, which meant both they continue in the championship and advance to the group stage of the championship.


- All players showed incredible persistence, we played the way we agreed prior to the match, long possessions, without pushing the tempo and repeating the mistakes from previous matches. It's a great feeling to be victorious- said coach Kim Rasmussen, thrilled.


Apart from the expected, biggest contribution by the two leading players on Poland's team, Kudlacz (9) and Wojtas (8), it's also worth mentioning the Rasmussen's aces up the sleeve, goalkeeper Prudzienica and Agnieszka Kocela. Kocela played great defense and right wing offense, while Prudzienica's 9 saves allowed her to take over the starting position from Gapska.


Speaking of her, it seems coach Rasmussen decided to substitute Gapska with Anna Wysokinska in the rest of the championship, a player whose debut in the national team was in 2011., during qualifications for the WC, and against this precise opponent, as part of the team that won fourth place in the 2013 WC.

One gets the impression that Poland barely made it to the main stage and do not deserve to be here based on performance. They had good periods against the Russians, with Poland's two best offensive players Kudlacz and Wojtas taking advantage of Russians' biggest problem, the 'black holes' in their performance, which manifested here as just two goals in the last ten minutes. In their previous two matches Poland lost to Spain by -7 and to Hungary -6, while it could have been more as Hungary held a 10 goal lead midway through the match. Denmark are charging for victory, and are also traditionally a bad match-up for Poland as the Danes won all three previous matches, with the last one at the WC being the closest one, by just 4 goals. Poland now have a weaker team compared to that match, missing perimeter players and with changes on one wing, as well as goalies with few saves. This led selector Rasmussen to switch out his first goalie Gapska and bring in a new goalkeeper to the team prior to the second stage. With a serious attitude and full focus throughout the match, the way Scandinavians usually do, the realistic margin is two or three goals higher than the one set for this handicap.

Wojtas is the second best scorer on the Polish team, having taken the second greatest number of shots. She's averaging 5 goals and 9 shots per game, 10-for-15 from the nine-meter line. She scored 4 goals out of 11 shots (3-for-9 from the nine-meter line) as Poland played Denmark in 2013 WC for the bronze medal. She is nowhere near those kind of performances, and more importantly, Denmark are the opponent who don't let back players do well. They limited Norway to only five goals from this position despite losing. Finally, Wojtas is from Larvik, just like the Danish goal keeper Toft, which means Toft knows her very well and normally saves a lot of shots from the nine-meter line. Wojtas is averaging 4 goals per game at Larvik in Champions League, which is where this margin should be set.