Norway followed Egypt, Denmark and Slovenia into the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship quarter-finals with a last-second victory over Brazil in a nail-biting second eighth-final in Pontevedra on Wednesday. Just like the match before it, which saw Denmark take a one-goal win, the quarter-final ticket was decided by just one goal – the third eighth-final of the four played up until that point to finish with such a margin. 

EIGHTH-FINAL
Norway vs Brazil 29:28 (12:13) 

Initially, it appeared as though Brazil were going to have little trouble defeating their Scandinavian rivals, as they pulled clearly ahead in the first half before Norway staged a comeback. In the second period, it was Norway’s turn to create a clear advantage, before Brazil fought back to level – and then it was a thrilling and emotional finish to the match. 

In the first half, Brazil reached a lead as decisive as six goals, after a dominant opening that saw Norway score just three goals in the first 12 minutes, 3:9. After falling behind early, Norway had switched to seven-on-six in attack, with goalkeeper Robin Paulsen Haug leaving the court. However, the tactic did not work smoothly, and Norway allowed three long-range shots into the empty goal before falling back to a standard formation. 

From 4:10 in the 21st minute, Norway pulled off a remarkable comeback to bring the game to a one-goal score line at the break. When he was on the court, Haug was exceptional, finishing the first 30 minutes with nine saves at a rate of 52%. Brazil’s Lucas Santos had also been key for his side in goal, in the opening minutes especially, with a rate of 50% as the first quarter came to a close. Brazil’s attack was clearly led by Pedro Pacheco and Guilherme Torriani in the first half, as they combined for 10 of their team’s goals. 

In the second period, it was Norway who created a six-goal advantage, hitting 20:14 just nine minutes in. As the last quarter began the same score line remained, 25:19, and with 10 minutes left Norway were still in control at 27:23 – but they could feel Brazil chasing hard. 

It was five minutes from time that Brazil pulled the game level once more, 27:27, and from that stage it was a tough race to the buzzer. A red card for Thomas Boilesen in the 57th, still 27:27, could have been ominous for Norway, but they managed to keep Brazil from claiming the upper hand while a defender down. Santos was unlucky not to save an in-flight goal from Norway for 28:27, as he hit the ball before the bounce led it across the line. 

With just 35 seconds on the clock, Guilherme Souza broke through to equalise, and Norway had a time-out with 16 seconds remaining. In an absolutely thrilling finish, Norway clinched the win with an outside shot from Simen Pettersen – only his second goal of the match, but the most important one. 

Player of the match: Tord Aksnes Lode, Norway