News Details

While Sweden had no problems in earning their first victory in their opening match against Tunisia, Spain had to struggle hard and needed a brilliant catch-up chase to beat Serbia in the second session of today’s men Olympic handball tournament.

Sweden – Tunisia 28-21 (16-11)

After a 12-year absence from the Olympic Games, three-time Olympic silver medallists Sweden started their comeback campaign with a well-deserved 28-21 (16-11) victory over African champions Tunisia on Sunday 29 July for two important points in their race for a place in the quarterfinals.

The Scandinavians took control after a series of five consecutive goals made it 11-7 in the 21st minute. Playmaker Dalibor DODER (SWE), Sweden's top scorer with eight goals, and line player Fredrik PETERSEN (SWE) took the initiative.

Tunisian top scorer Oussama BOUGHANMI (six goals) was unstoppable in front of the Scandinavian defence, but lacked support.

Immediately after the start of the second half Sweden increased their margin to seven goals at 18-11, but the Tunisian resistance remained strong. With four consecutive counter-attack goals, the North Africans were back on track and working hard to level the match.

Both sides defended steadfastly in their man-to-man fights at the six-metre line and following spectacular saves from goalkeeper Mattias ANDERSSON, Sweden became dominant again, with only ANDERSSON’s Tunisian counterpart Marouen MAGGAIZ preventing the game from running away from his side.

He was outgunned in the end, however, and Sweden clinched the match with a strike from Kim ANDERSSON.

Statements after the match:

Coach Alain PORTES (TUN):

"We didn't have a magic solution for this game against Sweden. We knew it would be tough playing against the very strong Swedes and we just had to get on with it. We totally expected such a physical match. We obviously cannot become miraculously stronger in just two days, when we face Iceland, yet we will try to work on the elimination of our major errors in the Sweden game, such as attacking too much and committing too many fouls."

Player Marouen MAGGAIZ (TUN):

"At the beginning of the game I felt I was very concentrated. However, as the game went on I found it more difficult, particularly the amount of goals the Swedes scored on second balls. This made me ask myself questions, and it was a psychological blow. In the previous matches, we have had excellent results by losing through only one or two goals against some excellent teams such as France. However in this match it didn't go quite so well and the margin was much larger. The team has a lot of young players who do not have much experience. These young players need to work a lot."

Coach Staffan OLSSON (SWE):
"We had great respect for Tunisia because they are a dangerous team with some very good players, but we were able to match them in skill and physicality. It is very satisfying starting the Olympic Games in this way. The support we had from the fans was fantastic. "This win is a good start but there is a long, long way to go - many tough games ahead.  We play Great Britain next and we will treat them with the same respect as France or any of the top teams."

Player Mattias ANDERSSON (SWE):

"We are very pleased. We played with lots of energy and lots of passion. It was very physical; we knew from the start it would be. It was important to get a good start. It was very good defensively. We helped each other out and it was tight in the centre. Defence is our strength. "We have never played or seen them play so our preparation will have to be the same as always. It's important we go into it with the same energy."

Spain – Serbia 26-21 (10-14)

Spain has won their crucial opening game against Serbia in the men's handball competition 26-21 (14-10).

Top scorers were Momir ILIC (SRB) with six goals and Jorge MAQUEDA, Daniel SARMIENTO and Viktor TOMAS with four goals each for Spain.

The Serbian collective stood extremely well in defence before the break, cooperating perfectly with goalkeeper Darko STANIC (SRB). The Spaniards found it hard to find their way through the wall from the 10th minute right up until the halftime buzzer.

This defensive strategy was the base for the Serbian counter-attacks, which turned the game from a Spanish 6-4 lead into a 14-10 halftime lead for Serbia. 

But everything changed after the break. Spanish coach Valero RIVERA seemed to have found the right words in his half-time speech. His players turned the game around in 10 minutes, mostly by counter-attacks, to level at 16-16, while the Serbians failed too often against veteran Spanish goalkeeper Jose IBANEZ HOMBRADOS (ESP).

With the score at 20-20, Serbia lost their rhythm completely, missing four consecutive chances and inviting Spain to help themselves to four successfully completed counter-attacks. A double strike by Jorge MAQUEDA (ESP) and further Spanish goals from Christian UGALDE and Daniel SARMIENTO opened the gates to a highly important victory.

In the last minutes, a triple save by HOMBRADOS ended the Serbian hopes for a successful start to London 2012. The two points will boost the Spanish confidence for Tuesday's match against European champions Denmark, a rematch of the 2012 European championship semifinal.

The next Serbian task, against Croatia on Tuesday 31 July, is even more difficult.

Statements after the match:

Coach Veselin VUKOVIC (SRB)

"I think we made an excellent first-half. I suppose it was our lack of experience for this kind of match. We made too many technical errors and there were too many fast breaks that were difficult to defend. But I was happy with the first half but very disappointed with the second half. Our next opponent Croatia have players with two gold medals and they have a very good chance to win but we will try to repeat our semifinal victory at the EURO in Serbia.”

Coach Valero RIVERA LOPEZ (ESP)

"The first ten minutes, we were not great but our defence wasn't bad. The defence was much better in the second half and there were better balls played. We were able to break through the Serbian defence. Our defence wasn't bad in the first half and it was much better in the second half. The other team lost faith in attack. The goalkeeper is an important part of any team. Hombrados is the leader of the team. He was able to show that.

Player Victor TOMAS (ESP)

"It's always very important to win the first game in a competition. Serbia are a big team, the second best in Europe. We will take each game step by step. We will do when we play Denmark but we could win both matches and still go out."

Player Darko STANIC (SRB)

"We had most of the match in our hands. I can’t even think now where we made the mistakes. "It was the first game of the Olympics and Spain was not that good in the first half, but they managed to find themselves up in the second half and were better than us. Our group is a pretty tough one, every match will be hard, but games between us and Croatia are very intense and we think it will be very close."