Croatia followed France to the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship final with a three-goal victory over Portugal in the second semi-final in Pontevedra on Saturday night. It was a tight contest that ended with Croatia securing the historic result, as neither side had reached the trophy match at the event before. Portugal will now play for their second bronze medal at the event, taking on Egypt. 

SEMI-FINAL
Portugal vs Croatia 28:31 (9:12)

Just as Egypt had opened the match before, Croatia had a far stronger start to the semi-final than their opponents. They had to survive a few comebacks from Portugal, but ultimately proved the stronger team and knew the match was won at least a minute before the buzzer.  

Croatia goalkeeper Ivan Eres saved the first three shots from Portugal, and the fourth attempt hit the crossbar. At the other end of the court, Croatia scored two goals before their rivals found their way onto the score board – but the first save from Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Valerio, the hero of their quarter-final clash, kept Croatia from pulling too far ahead early on. Portugal’s key attacking weapon, Diogo Silva, equalised at 2:2 in the sixth minute and a contest that was tight through until the end of the first quarter began. 

Croatia’s usually outstanding back court had trouble against Portugal’s defence, and it led them to lose the flow of their attack and start to favour too many unsuccessful one-against-one attempts. Croatia were lucky that Eres was in great form, as he created the chance for his side to take the lead and made up for some errors in attack. 

At 5:4 in the 12th minute, all nine goals had been scored by different players, showing the quality of each side’s attack and defence, as all were dangerous and both teams clearly had to work hard for the right scoring opportunities. Croatia hit their first two-goal lead off a fast break from right wing Fran Mileta, before Josip Sarac pulled them in front by three, 7:4, right on the 15-minute mark. 

After Croatia moved ahead to 9:4 thanks to left back Halil Jaganjac, Portugal grabbed the momentum and fought back with a 3:0 partial that ensured they did not lose touch before the break. Out of all the players on court, only Silva, Mileta and Sarac had found the goal more than once in the first 25 minutes. 

Following Croatia’s three-goal advantage at half-time, they again had a stronger opening to the period before Portugal fought back. From 9:14 off Croatia right back Ivan Martinovic’s fourth goal in the 32nd, Portugal outscored their opponents 9:3 through the next 10 minutes to claim the upper hand, 18:17. 

As the last quarter began, the score was locked at 19:19, and it stayed a one-for-one game until Croatia created a two-goal advantage thanks to Sarac in the 51st minute, 24:22. It was a critical moment when Vistorop struck in the 53rd for Croatia to take a lead of three, and from that, Portugal could not come back. Croatia held steadily in front by three goals in the 58th, and when Mileta pulled them to 29:25, the outcome was decided. Mileta scored his seventh goal to keep the four-goal distance as the last 60 seconds began, and that was the moment Croatia knew it was over. 

Player of the match: Ivan Martinovic, Croatia