The shield of Montenegro

At some point this stopped being just a match between the two best teams in the tournament and became the kind of experience every sports fan dreams about.  This match had everything: it had double extra time and in each period of that there was a reffing controversy, it had a lead that changed hands, momentum that swung and, in the end, it had heroes.

Those heroes could be found throughout the Montenegro side.  From the goalkeeper Sonja Barjaktarovic who played the full eighty minutes and made 17 saves to Milena Knezevic who found the net 10 times, and then there was Katarina Bulatovic who was on court for over an hour and whose own performance summed up that of her team: bruised, defiant, victorious.

But on the losing side too, there were some great performances.  Anja Edin, again, was a focus for so much in defence and attack although she’ll be disappointed with only a 4/10 shooting return and Ida Alstad led with 11 goals, including three in the second half of the first period of extra time to overturn what had looked like an unassailable Norwegian lead.  But some players were muted, in particular, Linn Jorum Sulland could only manage three goals from eight shots.

At the final hooter, Heidi Loke remonstrated with the officials for her two minute suspension which had been the catalyst for Montenegro’s final, final charge for the title – but then Montenegro could counter that but for the very harsh two minutes given to Katarina Bulatovic in the first extra time there would have been no opportunity for Alstad’s equalising heroics.

Type ‘Montenegro’ into google news right now and all you see is women’s handball.  There is nothing else on the ticker.  Perhaps the place closes on Sunday.  What isn’t in doubt is how much this means to both the players on the court and the nation they represent.

And that’s before the impact on women’s handball that somebody, at last, has beaten Norway.

If you feel up to it, you can watch it all again here:

Kristine Lunde-Borgersen, on her way to a seventh major international title in six years? (wiki)

If it’s all getting a bit predictable it’s also getting a bit more impressive each time.  Norway will once again contest a major final as favourites and this time they do so having destroyed Hungary with one of the most dominant performances they will ever have produced against quality opposition. Midway through the first half of their semi final they overturned a 10:7 deficit with a 9:2 run of scoring and then utterly controlled the second half.  They could rotate the bench, showboat in attack and when Katrine Lunde Haraldsen took a whack in the face in the act of saving (one of 11 saves she made) they could relax in the knowledge that she could leave the court unworried.  Anja Edin was strong in both attack and defence and Heidi Loke looked like the world’s greatest player but, terrifyingly, neither of them looked head and shoulders above their colleagues, quality-wise.I’d backed Norway to win by 2.  They won by 11.

The other semi final, on the other hand, was a copper-bottomed classic as neighbours and former sharers of a sole identity Serbia and Montenegro did battle.  It was a tough match with plenty of bite, especially on the fringes of the D but it was also a game whose outcome was never certain until the end.

Serbia led 14:13 at the break and with a bit of luck and concentration would have had a greater advantage.  They had themselves come back from 9:5 down.  The bullets fired by Biljana Filipovic inspiring yet another great team performance.  Montenegro dug deep, played the refs to the limit and produced some smart shooting of their own – Milana Kzenevic finishing with 9 goals.  In the end the team with greater depth pulled away and just held on.

In today’s final the crowd won’t be an issue and but on head to head Norway look just too strong.  A Montenegro victory would be a beautiful result but they will need to work the refs effectively and shut down Norway in every aspect of the game – and do that for 60 minutes.  Norway can always go to Plan B, then C, D and E as required.  The bookies have Norway at 9/20 to win … but for all I think Norway should win if I were to place a bet I might be tempted to go for Montenegro.

My prediction, for what it’s worth, is Norway by 2.  The match starts at 3pm (UK) – live on YouTube with commentary from the always excellent Paul Bray.