Displaying strength and confidence, Portugal started the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 on a high, taking a convincing 34:27 win against Tunisia in Montpellier.

TOURNAMENT 2
Tunisia vs Portugal 27:34 (11:15)

This was probably one of the hardest, if not the hardest international game that Portugal ever had to play in competitive handball.

It was not about the opponent, rather than the circumstances. Only two weeks have passed since Alfredo Quintana’s untimely passing, after the Portuguese goalkeeper suffered a cardiac arrest.

Trying to hold back the tears in the moment of silence prior to the throw off, the Portuguese players were motivated and ready to honour the memory of their former teammate.

And they did just that, jumping to a 7:2 lead, after a pair of goals from left back Andre Gomes, including an in-flight beauty that left the Tunisian defence stunned.

However, after Tunisia could reduce their turnovers and the Portuguese side dropped their focus, the African side started to crawl back into the game. 

It was more a collective effort rather than a player taking the game on his own – left wing Oussama Boughanmi and centre back Mohamed Darmoul had a combined tally of five goals, with Darmoul carrying on his superb form from Egypt 2021.

Yet, Portuguese goalkeeper Gustavo Capdeville was superb between the posts, saving six shots at a rate of 40% in the first half.

It was somewhat a tribute to the late Quintana, as Capdeville kissed his black armband after a penalty save. His prowess lifted Portugal to a 15:11 lead at the break, with Paulo Pereira’s side boasting an impressive 75% shooting efficiency.

A late call-up to replace injured back Kamel Alouini, Amine Bannour scored three of the first four goals for the African team in the second half.

However, it was too little too late, as Portugal continued their impressive attack, riding Gomes’ superb form – seven goals from nine shots.

A seven-goal lead with 20 minutes to go (22:15) was by no means an unassailable one for Portugal, especially as goalkeeper Marouen Maggaiz started to lift his defence with superb saves.

Portugal proved to be a well-oiled machine, though, and never relished their advantage. Firing from all cylinders, the European side fine-tuned some of their plays, coach Paulo Pereira distributed the playing time equally among most of his players – and Tunisia never managed to come back, despite cutting the gap to four goals with nine minutes to go (26:22).

With the tough clashes against Croatia and France looming in the next two days, Portugal sealed an emotional 34:27 win, to cement their role as a dark horse in this tournament. On the other side, Tunisia’s slim hopes of progressing to the third Olympic Games in a row look even slimmer now, as they face must-win games against the other two European powerhouses.

Photo: FFHandball / Icon Sport