Russia beat Norway 29-28 last November. Since then, Norway had 15 wins and one draw before the defeat against the Netherlands.

National team manager Thorir Hergeirsson was clearly frustrated at half-time. Norway’s defensive play and goalkeeper was well below his desired level.

The Netherlands scored a total of 18 goals before halftime. That’s way more than the Norwegian national team’s limit for goals at the back in one half.

Nora Mørk showed an EC performance with a big attack in the first round. He was involved in most of the things that led to the Norwegian score.

– For my part, I think it’s another step in the right direction. “I’m satisfied with the progress and quite happy,” Mørk told NTB.

He has been struggling with a muscle injury this fall.

– As far as the team is concerned, we can do better. But we have to remember that there are a lot of new players who don’t automatically come with it when they put on the kit. We have to set some conditions while not scaring anyone. We must create something safer together. “We have a lot to work on, but we beat the same Dutch as these players roughly a few weeks ago,” said Mørk.

Norway played without their center defense from last year’s World Cup finals. There is a Norwegian gold medal with Kari Brattset Dale (pregnant and irrelevant for EC) and Maren Aardahl (not in the squad on Thursday due to a muscle injury) in very central roles.

Must try it

Hergeirsson allowed new names like Anniken Wollik, Kristina Sirum Novak and Thale Rushfeldt Deila to get some playing time.

At worst, Norway lost 17-27 against the Netherlands. Norway played poorly in both defense and attack for most of the match.

Norway had a 22-27 lead, but then came a new big dose of block shot by the Norwegian players.

Norway continue the tournament in Stavanger against Denmark (Saturday) and Brazil (Sunday).

in a hurry

Hergeirsson had the chance to sharpen his team significantly more than he did on Thursday, but the collapse still disrupts the immense dominance of women’s handball over the past 24 years.

Norway’s first EC match will be played on Friday next week against Croatia. Norway are the reigning champions in EC after gold in 2020. Switzerland and Hungary are also in the group.

The best three from the pool play in the main round and meet the best three from Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia.

From the main round, the best two advanced to the semifinals.