Group D: Strong second half secures Argentina’s win

15 Jan. 2021

Group D: Strong second half secures Argentina’s win

After a disappointing first half, Argentina improved after the break and defeated World Championship debutants DR Congo. 

GROUP D
Argentina vs DR Congo 28:22 (13:14)

Johan Kiangbeni, who scored the 1:1 from the seven-metre line, will go down in history as the scorer of DR Congo’s first ever goal at an IHF Men’s World Championship. The left wing went on to become the top scorer of the match, scoring seven penalties from seven.

Congolese captain Aurelien Tchitombi also did a good job in the opening half, setting up goals as well as scoring themselves.

“I’m proud of my teammates, we played a good match, especially the first half. But it was hard to keep that level after the break, as it was our first game at the World Championship, and we lacked experience,” he said after the final buzzer.

Early in the match, Argentina could not find their rhythm, made many mistakes and could not create more than a two-goal advantage. The South American side were also somewhat unlucky as they hit the crossbar several times.

It was a back-and-forth game, and either side could take a lead at the break, but it was DR Congo who went to the dressing room in a better mood after Audray Tuzolana brought them one goal ahead (14:13) a few seconds before the buzzer. 

However, Argentina’s coach Manolo Cadenas found the right words at the break, which helped his team to significantly improve in the second half. They started to play faster and did much better in defence, the Simonet brothers worked hard in attack, and the gap between the teams started to grow.

“I think it’s always difficult for any team to play the first game. We knew that we are a little stronger than Congo, but Congo did better than us in the first half. But thanks to our goalkeeper and defence we turned the game around,” Cadenas said. 

Juan Bar, who took the position between the posts in the second half, contributed a lot to his team’s success with his eight saves. While the Congolese looked exhausted, the ‘Gladiators’ benefitted from their mistakes and cruised to a six-goal victory. 

hummel Player of the Match: Juan Bar, Argentina