This is Norway’s 13th win over Croatia. This victory means that the road to the main draw looks very easy for Norway to manage.

Reistad was named the field’s best player. He finished with seven scores.

– Hard to say anything other than well executed when you lead by two goals at half-time and win by nine goals. We know they can hang around for a bit, but we tire them out. “I am very satisfied with the improvement in the matches,” national team coach Thorir Hergeirsson told TV3.

The extraordinary atmosphere is absent in Ljubljana. There were only about 1,100 spectators in the arena, which held about 12,000 at most.

First half give and take for Norway en route to leading 16-14 at the break. It was like in many previous championship opening matches. Lots of good things mixed in with a weaker period and needlessly late goals.

– It feels good, captain Stine Brede Oftedal told TV3.

Shit

Reistad scored three goals in record time and sent Norway 22-18 ahead after just over 40 minutes. Croatia was unable to respond to that small gesture.

Around the same time, Norway made a goalkeeping change. Silje Solberg-Østhassel replaced Katrine Lunde. The latter opened well, but didn’t quite rise to the level he had in it.

Reistad kept going and scored two more goals in three or four minutes. This helped secure Norway’s lead 27-22 when the last ten minutes of the game remained.

– It’s delicious. A good opening match, although not perfect, said Reistad to NTB.

[ «Håndball-EM nå? Jada. Mye internasjonal idrett må danse etter Qatars dagsorden» ]

Followed

In the Norwegian attack, Nora Mørk (eight goals, including a surefire penalty) and Vilde Mortensen Ingstad (five perfect shots) were central with plenty of goals each. Kristine Breistøl also had a great day with four shots and four goals.

– This is a real triumph of hard work and it’s good that plus nine. Well done, said Nora Mørk.

Championship debutants such as Sunniva Næs Andersen and Anniken Wollik also found the net.

Maren Aardahl also got some game time after struggling with a muscle injury ahead of EC.

In the second match in the group, Hungary beat Switzerland 33-28. The match had even reached its final minutes.

Norway play Switzerland on Sunday and Hungary on Tuesday. Many unexpected things will happen if this match doesn’t end with Norway’s victory.

Norway has won eight EC titles. The first came in 1998.

Denmark has been voted by many as the likely winner of this year’s European Commission. But Denmark failed miserably in the first game and lost 26-28 against co-hosts Slovenia.

[ Når spiller Norges kvinner? Her er fullt program for EM i håndball 2022 ]

[ Norge testet EM-formen – heftig gullstempel på seg ]

—

Match facts:

Women’s European Championship play-offs, first round group stage, group A:

Norway – Croatia 32-23 (16-14)

Arena Stožice, Ljubljana – 1177 spectators

Norwegian: Silje Solberg-Østhassel, Katrine Lunde – Emilie Hegh Arntzen, Maren Aardahl 1, Stine Skogrand 1, Nora Mørk 8, Stine Bredal Oftedal 3, Kristine Breistøl 4, Vilde Mortensen Ingstad 5, Kristina Novak, Henny Ella Reistad 7, Emilie Margrethe Hovden, Sunniva Næs Andersen 1, Anniken Wollik 2, Thale Rushfeldt Deila, Ane Cecilie Høgseth.

Croatia top scorer: Stela Posavec 4.

Expulsion: Norway 5 x 2 minutes, Croatia x 2 minutes.

Jury: Marina Duplii/Olena Pobedrina, Ukraine.

Another game on Friday: Hungary – Switzerland 33-28.

Played Sunday: Croatia – Hungary, Switzerland – Norway.

Group B, first round Friday:

Denmark – Slovenia 26-28, Sweden – Serbia 27-21.

Played Sunday: Slovenia – Sweden, Serbia – Denmark.