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The Hungarian women’s handball team has reached the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics after defeating Spain 27-24 in the fourth round of the group stage on Thursday.
The Hungarians lost 31-28 to the defending, host and world champions France a week ago, beat Brazil 25-24 on Sunday, drew 31-31 with Angola on Tuesday and will close the group stage on Saturday against the Netherlands. The top four finishers progress to the quarter-finals.
The match started with an efficient Spanish attack with the Hungarian defense unable to stop the opponents’ actions, and after just nine minutes, at 6-3, the Hungarian captain Vladimir Golovin called a time-out.
This put Hungarian heads in order, the attacks became more accurate and the defense more efficient.
In the 23rd minute the lead was three goals, and the gap grew even more as the Hungarian team defended excellently. Towards the end of the period, the Spanish team closed the gap, as the Hungarian attack made several mistakes and the opponents quickly caught up.
Kinga Debreczeni-Klivinyi (L), Alicia Fernandez and Lara Gonzalez. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Six minutes into the second period, when the Spanish captain called a timeout with Hungary leading 19-14. He managed to shake up his players, as they closed the gap to two goals. Hungary’s attacking play was shaky in this phase and Spain shot two penalties in a row. At the end of a 6-0 run, Spain briefly took the lead. At 21-21, the score remained unchanged for several minutes, with Böde-Bíró’s shot finally finding its way into the net.
Csenge Kuczora (L) and Spanish goalkeeper Mercedes Castellanos. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
At 26-23, another Spanish time-out was called with just over three minutes to go. However, the opponents could not recover, and the Hungarians, who played well again in the second half, finally secured an important victory 27-24.
The two teams met for the 27th time, with seven Spanish victories and six draws, the Hungarians their 14th victory.
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Federation captain Vladimir Golovin said after the match that even compared to the victory over Spain, the Hungarian women’s handball team has much more potential. “I think we can do even more than we did today, but sometimes I feel like we do not know what we are capable of. It is a bit of insecurity,” said the captain, who hopes that this will disappear in the fifth group game against the Netherlands.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt