There Italian men’s national handball team continue to dream big and do the feat, defeating the fearsome Montenegro 32-26 in the first leg of the third and final round of the qualifiers for the final phase of the World Championships scheduled for 2025 in Croatia, Norway and Denmark. The Azzurri, dragged by the bedlam of the Pala San Giacomo in Conversano, have therefore accumulated a precious +6 in view of the return match scheduled for Sunday 12 May in Podgorica.
MVP of the evening was the amazing Umberto Bronzo, author of 13 goals (on 17 shots), but within the fantastic collective performance of our national team in both halves of the pitch, the excellent performance of the goalkeeper must also be highlighted Domenico Ebner (34.48% of shots saved), capable of neutralizing three shots from 7 meters by Milos Vujovic.
Rocket start from the home team, who immediately scored a 3-0 lead at the start of the match, lighting up the Italian crowd. The Balkan team, however, makes up for it and also puts its head ahead at 7-8, but the Azzurri are inspired and even fly to +4 at 16-12 before suffering a mini-half of 3-0 which allows Montenegro to go at halftime down one (16-15).
A fiery second half at the Pala San Giacomo, with Italy coming out of the locker room better and starting to build a good lead action after action. The boys of DT Riccardo Trillini are unleashed and even fly to +8 at 31-23, but in the final they lose a bit of rhythm in attack and see their opponents get slightly closer, still prevailing by 32-26.
