Yugoslavia won the close match against Sweden 31-28 (15-16)

By Rudi Dalsgaard

'Our fans won the match' the Yugoslavian coach Marko Isakovic said after the match against Sweden. He had reason to be satisfied with his team who won the dramatic match which was just as intense on the court as on the sideline.

The match began at a tremendous pace with lots of shots, goals and excellent goalkeeping efforts by Yugoslavia's Zlata Paplacko and Sweden's Jenny Holmgren. The end of the second half was characterised by many attacks which delighted the many Helsinge spectators. Many Yugoslavian and Swedish fans had shown up. The Yugoslavian fans were very committed and made a lot of noise.

Twenty one minutes into the match the Yugoslavians shouted with joy despite the fact that their team received two suspensions in a row. Sweden missed a seven meter throw and instead Jokovic equalized the score to 13-13 at a point where Sweden could have increased the distance to Yugoslavia.

Sweden's Veronica Isaksson and Yugoslavia's Bojana Petrovic were the top scorers. Bojana Petrovic scored five times. Two Swedes tackled Petrovic but she managed to shoot with her back against the goal. An excellent goal from the Slagelse player. She scored seven goals in total.

The second half was characterised by defensive play. The match became rough and Tatjana Medved was suspended for the third time and consequently disqualified. This meant that Yugoslavia had only five players against Sweden's seven players for the second time in the match.

Fourty five minutes into the match, Sweden took a mental time out. They let four goals in and they never really recovered from this. Yugoslavia's Sanja Jovovic took over when Petrovic got tired and the fast blond carrying number six became the top scorer of the match with ten goals out eleven shots.

The match ended 31 - 28 and both coaches were satisfied with their teams.

'We played well and the match was a good experience. But we failed during the crucial moments' the Swedish coach Thomas Ryde said after the match. 'I am proud of my players. Now we have to prepare for the match against Romania'.

His top scorer Veronica Isaksson agreed: 'We fought well but it was not enough today'.

Yugoslavia's Tanja Milanovic appreciated the support from the fans as well as her coach. 'They helped us a lot even though we had a poor start. We played a good match - and so did Sweden.