MUNDIAL 2009: de goleada em goleada

Bem...de volta...e depois de uma ausência um pouco prolongada, durante a qual Portugal de estreou num Campeonato da Europa em Seniores, venceu mais uma Taça das Quatro Nações, e continua a preparar o acesso em Seniores Masculinos a outra grande comeptição. Por enquanto, vamos assistindo ao Mundial 2009, na Croácia, que vai indo de goleada em goleada, embora com algumas surpresas como a derrota da Polónia perante a Macedónia por um golo, e, da vitória do Brasil sobre a Sérvia, onde um brilhante Filipe Ribeiro marcou 10 golos.

Positiva também a estreia da dupla jovem portuguesa nestes grandes eventos, depois de uma preparação exaustiva, da qual ficam aqui algumas fotos, assim como o resumo dos jogos disputados hoje, dia 19. Por fim, a quem queira assistir de forma gratuita aos jogos pode aceder a: http://atdhe.net/

Resultados e calendário de jogos:

Resumo dos Jogos:

Group A

Romania - Argentina 30:26 (15:13)

Without a brilliant performance Romania secured their first win in the WCh tournament whereas Argentina is still waiting for gaining their first points. Romania's victory was rather obligatory, only seldom did they come up to their fine performance from the match with France. However, they never got unsettled although the gauchos put up resistance quite a long time but did not overrun the Central European side. The top-scorer award went to Romania's Marian Ghionnea (9 goals) and Andres Kogovsek (7) from Argentina. The match remained well balanced until 12:12; Romania's first four-goal lead was recorded at 16:12, and they kept it until the final whistle was blown. Romania must make every effort to win their remaining encounters against Slovakia and Australia in order to qualify for the main round.

Hungary - Slovakia 24:24 (12:6)

The pre-decisive match between the two sides from Central Europe was pure drama in view of the qualification for the main round. Hungary and Slovakia, both of which are still unbeaten drew after a thrilling final phase, showing 5:1 points each now. Hungary had a fabulous start to rush to 7:1 and seemed as if they had got control of the match but Slovakia found back into the match, among others thanks to great keeper Richard Stochl and shooter Frantisek Sulc (9 goals). With nine minutes to go until the end Sulc equalised for the first time (19:19), yet, they never took the lead although they had a chance of doing so. Hungary's top scorers were Nagy, Ivancsik und Ilyes (all five goals)

France - Australia 42:11 (20:3)

Australia will have the score of 2:1 framed, as they got overrun by the Olympic champions afterwards. They just scored one more goal in half-time one while France added 18 more to increase their scoring account. The unbalanced game was quickly decided. Australia lacked efficient means and thus was far away from keeping up with the Olympic champions. France even afforded a rest for their top stars. Luc Abalo (10 goals) and Tommy Fletscher (4 goals) earned the top-scorer crown.

Group B

Korea - Kuwait 34:19 (15:9)

The Koreans were quite relaxed when claiming their first WCh win in Croatia. Kuwait had to concede their third consecutive defeat. The match was over at half-time. In the second half, Korea gradually extended their lead. A first ten-goal margin could be reached at 19:9, in the end a 15-goal difference was recorded. Korea's top scorer crown went to Ciyeol Yoon, netting seven.
Sweden - Spain 34:30 (19:13) WCh returnee Sweden earned a perfect position in Group B, adding 6:0 to their score to enter into the match with hosts Croatia while Spain suffered a major setback following two high-score victories. The crowd celebrated match winner Johan Sjöstrand, who sent the Olympic bronze medallists into despair thanks to his 21 fabulous saves. Due to their poor scoring rate the Iberians fell quickly behind from 8:8 although Iker Romero contributed a total of 11 goals. Sweden proved predominant in attack to save their clean lead until the half-time break. After changing ends Spain went to great strength to turn the match upside down but either Sjöstrand or Sweden's defence resisted. Even in numerical inferiority Sweden did not allow Spain to reduce the margin. This is also owed to great Swedish player Dalibor Doder, who like Romero scored 11 goals.

Croatia - Cuba 41:20 (20:9)

The WCh host cruised to another victory and has not lost any single point so far. Cuba kept up well until 8:6 before Croatia's Hrvatin and Cupic rushed ahead to 20:9 (half-time). With the score at 30:16 Cuba showed their last sign of life before Croatia's 7-goal series left their mark on the match. Cuba's Echavarria and Carol Marzo scored five goals each for Cuba, which is still without any point. Croatia's winger Igor Cupic became the best player of the match, scoring 11 goals.

Group C

Poland - Macedonia 29:30 (15:16)

A great cheer went up from the Macedonian fans and the players jumped for joy on the field: The handball players from the Balkan region disposed of outstanding Kiril Lazarov (13 goals) and showed a courageous performance to provide the first surprise in Group C. The Vice-World champions conceded their first defeat while Macedonia (4:2) kept their chance of qualifying for the next stage. Nothing could beat the thrilling atmosphere of this match. Alushkovski's goal marked the score of 30:29 with 25 seconds to go before the end. Poland was allocated a free-throw with five seconds to go due to a foul committed by Macedonia, the free-throw was executed when the final signal was blown. Karol Bielecki prepared for the shot but Macedonia's wall blocked it and Macedonia won. The underdogs from the Balkan region had been in the lead almost all the time in the match. Poland's performance was not convincing except for keeper Szmal, who did an excellent campaign again.

Germany - Algeria 32:20 (16:10)

It was a compulsory exercise for the German side and they made it to gain 5:1 and thus to rank at the top of Group C. Algeria were just a sparring partner for them although the North Africans' offensive defence posed some problems in the opening stage of the match. Thanks to great keeper Johannes Bitter (13 saves) victory got never out of sight. After their 16:10 half-time lead Germany proved strong and at 22:11 ('38) they cruised to win. In view of the challenging encounters to come - with Macedonia and Poland - Heiner Brand's side slowed somewhat down. Torsten Jansen (6) was Germany's top shooter while Berriah scored eight goals for Algeria, which showed their loss of energy in the final stage of the match.

Russia - Tunisia 36:31 (14:10)

Russia earned their first win in three matches of well-balanced Group C to cool down a little bit. Two defeats of Tunisia made them worry about their qualification for the main round, as Russia also pulled ahead of them. It was for the first time that Russia's physically strong defence could prevail without conceding a number of suspensions. You could see that Tunisia still suffered from the loss of energy in their match versus Germany. They only rarely got the rhythm in attack while Russia broke away to 14:7 early in the match. Tunisia managed to reduce the margin in the final phase but Russia had already been home and dry.

Group D
Brazil - Serbia 32:30 (14:14)

Like phoenix from the ashes Brazil claimed their first WCh win in Croatia. Just one day after Serbia's narrow defeat to Denmark (1 goal) they clearly underestimated the South American side to give away a better positioning in their struggle for the qualification to the main round. Both teams earned 2:4 points but Brazil now takes the advantage when taking into account the points gained between those two teams. The Serbs missed the opening phase to fall behind 2:6 but fought hard to catch up to manage a half-time draw. Whoever thought the match might turn upside down now got disappointed. Brazil showed fantastic moral and at no time did fall behind until the final whistle. Experienced Serbia did not manage a change in the match. With three minutes to go and the score at 30:30, Ribeiro's and Hubner's strikes made the underdog cause the splash. Momir Illic's seven goals did not help Serbia. Brilliant Felipe Ribeiro, who scored 10 goals, was the man of the match.

Norway - Egypt 30:20 (14:10)

Norway remained unbeaten at the end of matchday 3 to come top of Group D together with Denmark. The tough games for the North Europeans against the European champions and Serbia have yet to come. Despite their second defeat Egypt's dream of qualifying is still alive, as they have the same number of points like Brazil and Serbia. However, the North African side had not a chance against Norway, which was the predominant side from beginning to end. Following 9:3, only Hussein managed to keep Egypt on track by scoring six goals (out of nine in total). Following their five-goal lead at half-time, Norway gradually broke away in the second half. Best scorer of the European side was Christian Kjelling (9). Keeper Steinar Ege's fine performance between the posts also deserves a special mention

Denmark - Saudi Arabia 32:13 (17:4)

The European champions did not have any trouble to secure their third win in three matches. In the first half, the Danes only allowed three goals. Afterwards they got a little bit more relaxed. Left wing Anders Eggert did the first half on his own when he scored 9 goals out of 17 for the Danish team. Moreover the Saudi side regularly failed to Danish keeper Kasper Hvidt.