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Paris 2024 | Vlah's magical performance propels Slovenia to quarter-finals

02 Aug. 2024

Paris 2024 | Vlah's magical performance propels Slovenia to quarter-finals

A 14-goal outing from left back Aleks Vlah, the second largest number of goals scored by a single player in the history of the men’s handball competition at the Olympic Games, was enough to help Slovenia through to the quarter-finals, with their 29:28 win against Japan.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP A
Japan vs Slovenia 28:29 (15:15)

Germany’s win against Spain, secured in the previous session of the fourth day in the men’s handball competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games had cleared a path for Slovenia to secure a quarter-finals berth, their third in fourth appearances at the Olympics for the European side.

Were Slovenia to win against Japan, Uros Zorman’s side would have jumped to six points, tying Germany in the standings, with two points more than Spain, Sweden and Croatia. And with Spain and Croatia facing off in the last round, it was clear that at least one of those sides would not leapfrog Slovenia.

Therefore, the European side knew exactly what they needed, but the question is whether they had enough in their tank to seal that crucial win, especially as Japan made Croatia seriously sweat, while also dishing a hefty challenge to Spain in the previous match, when they only conceded a four-goal loss, 33:37.

And indeed, the match was not a walk in the park for Slovenia, which had a shaky start, enabling Japan to take an early lead, as backs Kosuke Yasuhira and Naoki Fujisana once again had fantastic performances, impressingly efficient. On the other hand, Slovenia found it hard to tone down the rhythm and fell behind early, failing to stop Japan.

Twice did the Asian side take a three-goal lead, 6:3 and 9:6, only for Slovenia to use their experience and depth to attempt a comeback. While right wing Blaz Janc scored 10 goals in the match against Sweden, two days ago, this time around it was Aleks Vlah’s turn to carry Slovenia and fuel their performance.

Vlah, who made his debut in the national team in 2017, but only recently became a regular in Uros Zorman’s side, did not start the match on the left back position, but with the team failing to get going, he was thrown into the battle and had four goals in the first half.

As the two teams were deadlocked at the break, 15:15, Slovenia need more and they took their inspiration from Vlah, who signed off on one of the best performances in his career, if not the most complete, totally dominating the Japan team, which paid due to their size and could not stop Slovenia’s back.

Japan took back the lead, 19:18, in the 40th minute, but from that moment on, Slovenia looked to control the match. First, it was a 6:2 run that turned the match on its head and saw the European side take a 24:21 lead, their first three-goal lead against Japan. But the game was far from over.

“If we lose, we lose our way,” said Japan’s coach, Antonio Carlos Ortega before the start of the competition and the Asian side stayed true to themselves in that respect, forcing a nail-biting ending to this match, as they cut Slovenia’s lead to only one goal, 27:26, with 90 seconds to go.

But then, Vlah scored another goal, his 14th, tying the second largest performance by a single player at the Olympics, held by France’s Frederic Volle, set at Atlanta 1996. Despite Vlah stopped one goal short of the record, set by Poland’s Jerzy Klempel at Montreal 1976 against Tunisia, it was enough to gift his team a crucial 29:28 win.

The third win in four matches lifted Slovenia to the quarter-finals, where they join Germany, while Japan, which are on a four-match losing streak, two of them lost by a single goal, are now eliminated from contention.