Iceland’s women’s handball club Valur has faced an emotional moment of winning for the first time in the history of the European club competition.
Ballour lifted the trophy by beating Spain’s BM Porino 25-24 in the second leg of the 2024-25 EHF Women’s Handball European Cup Final at N1 Höllin in Reykjavik, Iceland, on the 17th (local time).
Ballour, who drew 29-29 in the first leg of last week’s away match in Spain, won a thrilling one-goal victory at home, beating BM Porino with a final total of 54-53.
사진 확대 Photo 2024-25 EHF Women’s Handball European Cup Wins Ballour, Photo Source = European Handball Federation
At Ballour, Ausgeirsdóttir Þórey Anna scored six goals to lead the team’s attack, while Ausgeirsdóttir Lilja, Eliasdóttir Elísa, and Magnusdóttir Elína added four goals each. At the goal, goalkeeper Renötudóttir Hafdís made 10 valuable saves, making him the top contributor to his team’s victory.
In BM Porino, Pérez Buforn Paulina scored six goals, Barros ̃ Maider scored four goals, Zukova Ekaterina, Bono Carolina and Valles Becerra Malena scored three goals each, but unfortunately, they finished second with a one-goal loss. Goalkeeper Palomino Delgado Ana Belén made nine saves.
Following the first leg of the final, which ended 29-29 in Spain last week, the second leg was also a thrilling match. Ballour took a three-goal lead for Reykjavik in the first half, but BM Porino did his best to turn the tide. However, Valour held the lead until the end and won an emotional victory.
Ballour became the first team to win a European club competition in Iceland’s women’s handball history.
Valour led 3-1 early in the match, but BM Porino scored five goals in a row to make a 6-3 comeback. However, midway through the first half, while BM Porino remained silent on scoring for 14 minutes, Ballour scored six goals in a row and finished the first half 12-9.
At one point in the second half, Ballour seemed to take the lead by 23-16, seven goals, but BM Porino’s last-minute chase left the game in an unpredictable situation until the end. Porino scored four goals in a row in four minutes, chasing 24-22 to turn the tables, but he failed to prevent a 24-25 and one-goal defeat despite consecutive goals in the last minute.
In the first round, the goalkeepers of both teams were not remarkable, but in the second round, Valour’s goalkeeper Hafdís Renötudóttir led the team to victory with outstanding saves at every critical moment. He had a 35.71% save success rate in the first half, ultimately proving to be a key resource for the team with 10 saves (29.41% success rate).
Ballour’s victory in the European Cup is all the more meaningful in that it is the first European club competition in Iceland’s women’s handball history. This enhanced the status of Icelandic handball by winning the EHF European Cup last season by the Balur men’s team and the women’s team to the top of Europe.
[Kim Yongpil, MK Sports Reporter]