The Romanian U20 men’s handball team experienced a severe setback in the main group stage of the European Championship, suffering a substantial defeat against Slovenia with a final score of 32-53, in a match held at BTarena in Cluj-Napoca.
Prior to this match, Romania had already faced losses against Bosnia and Herzegovina (34-36) and Sweden (26-44). However, they managed a surprising victory against Israel, winning 39-31, which allowed them to qualify for the main group stage of the U20 European Championship and secured their spot at the 2027 World Championship.
In Group 3, Romania was matched with Sweden, Hungary, and Slovenia. Their first game took place on Monday, July 13, at 17:00 in BTarena, where they faced Slovenia, who had previously won against Poland (40-34) and the Czech Republic (35-31), but lost to Hungary (28-36).
Slovenia Dominates with 53 Goals Against Romania
Despite entering the match with a boost of confidence from their victory over Israel, the Romanian team struggled to keep pace with Slovenia. The match quickly turned into a painful experience for the small crowd in attendance, who witnessed an onslaught of goals from the visiting team.
Romania committed numerous errors that were exploited by Slovenia on the counterattack, leading to a halftime score of 18-28. After the break, Romania showed signs of improvement for a brief period, but it quickly fizzled out.
Slovenia regained control, prompting coach Bogdan Șoldănescu to call a timeout and express his frustration to the players: “What did we discuss at halftime?… If the desire is zero, our talk is meaningless.”
The timeout did little to change the momentum, as Slovenia’s offense continued to dominate. In the final moments, Slovenia’s coach Tomaz Ocvirk substituted in his reserves, allowing the team to reduce their intensity. Nevertheless, the match concluded with Romania suffering a record number of goals conceded in a single match of this tournament.
Bogdan Voina, president of the Romanian Handball Federation, was present to witness the team’s disappointing performance and took the opportunity to award the standout players from both teams. Răzvan Zeic (5 goals from 8 attempts) and Tjaz Staleker (11 goals from 13 attempts) were recognized for their performances.
Other notable players included Aljus Anzic (8 goals) and Ahmed Begic (7 goals) for Slovenia. On Romania’s side, Ianis Chiruț also netted 5 goals, while Emanuel Șerban and Teodor Ilucă contributed with 4 goals each.
Later that day, Sweden was set to play against Hungary. Despite this heavy defeat, Romania still has mathematical chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals, although the realistic chances remain very slim. The team is likely to compete for positions 9-16 in this European Championship.
On Tuesday, July 14, at 19:30, Romania will face Hungary in their second match of the main group stage, also at BTarena.
