The Portuguese handball team beat their Tunisian counterpart 37-29 this Saturday in an Olympic qualifying game in Hungary to keep their Paris 2024 Games hopes alive.
In the game played at the Tatabanya Arena, the Portuguese side soon showed what they were capable of, winning 4-0 in the first five minutes, leading to an immediate response from the opposition coach with a time-out.
This stoppage in play had an effect: the Tunisians responded and even took a one-goal lead (5-6), which forced Portuguese coach Paulo Jorge Pereira to respond with another time-out, also with an immediate advantage.
Portugal regained control of the match and, having returned to the lead, gradually increased their advantage, which was expressed by six goals at the break (18-12).
The second half started in the same way as the first, with Portugal making even better use of their attacking moves and gaining an even greater advantage, which could be a deciding factor in the group’s final results.
However, after 15 minutes of this stage, the Portuguese team showed signs of some decompression, which the African teams took advantage of to restore the difference, which reached 14 goals (28-14).
In a game that ultimately didn’t have much of a story, given Portugal’s clear superiority, the highlights were the good performances of goalkeeper Gustavo Capdeville, who made several saves at important moments in the match, and Luis Frade, the match’s top scorer, with six goals. ., and chose the best in this field.
With this victory, Portugal postpones the decision until the last round on Sunday against hosts Hungary, in a match in which only victory matters for the Portuguese team.
Under the refereeing of the German duo Robert Schulze and Tobias Tönnies, the teams lined up and scored:
– Portugal (37): Gustavo Capdeville, Gilberto Duarte, Alexis Borges (3), Joaquim Nazaré (4), Antonio Areia (2), Alexandre Cavalcanti (4) and Diogo Branquinho (3). Also playing: Miguel Martins (3), Rui Silva (2), Salvador Salvador (3), Luis Frade (6), Pedro Portela (3), Leonel Fernandez (3), Martim Costa (1) and Diogo Rema (c) .
Coach: Paulo Jorge Pereira.
– Tunisia: Mehdi Sadri Harbaoui, Abdelhak Ben Salah (1), Isam Rzik (4), Marouane Chouref, Oussama Rmiki (2), Anouar Ben Abdallah (4) and Mohamed Aziz Aidi. Also playing: Youssef Maaref (2), Hazem Bacha (3), Mohamed Amin Darmoul (3), Islem Jbelli (3), Ghassen Toumi (1), Achraf Margeli (4), Bilel Abdelli (2) and Fraj Ben Tekaya. (gr).
Coach: Patrick Jamie Casal.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.