The first major shock of the women’s competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games took place in the third match of the inaugural day, when Brazil dominated Spain and opened their account with a win, 29:18.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP B
Spain vs Brazil 18:29 (10:15)

In the last six meetings between the two sides, Spain had a 100% winning record, including at the last two editions of the Olympic Games – 27:23 at Tokyo 2020 and 29:24 at Rio 2016. Seven months ago, at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, Spain also secured a 27:25 win against their South American opponents.

Therefore, Ambros Martin’s side looked like the favourites for their opener at Paris 2024 too, especially as Brazil also looked to be in a downward trend. But when Brazil took a five-goal lead, 9:4, after only 15 minutes, Spain suddenly had a big challenge on their hands.

It was all about the attack, as the European side could only muster a 41% shooting efficiency, one which creates a big issue to challenge for the win, especially if the defence is not up to par.

And with Brazil strolling through Spain’s defence, led by a fantastic performance from centre back Bruna de Paula Almeida, who scored six goals, the South American champions looked in total control throughout the first half, ending it with the same five-goal lead, 15:10, they opened midway in the first part of the match.

But the real hero for Brazil was goalkeeper Gabriela Moreschi. Fresh from a career-defining season with SG BBM Bietigheim, where she was one of the top goalkeepers in the EHF Champions League Women, helping her side get into the EHF FINAL4, Moreschi picked up where she left off at Paris 2024.

After 45 minutes, Moreschi had an outstanding 45% saving efficiency, with 11 saves, being especially efficient in one-on-one situations, where she had eight saves until that point. With that kind of performance, Brazil had all the strength and time to find their flow in attack and constantly frustrated Spain.

As left back Patricia Matieli added six goals to de Paula’s six, Brazil opened a 10-goal lead, 25:15, with 12 minutes to go, one which proved to be unassailable, as the South American side continued to pounce with the same strength, while coach Cristiano Rocha changed his line, in order to rest some of his key players for the next matches.

Moreschi, clearly the best player for Brazil in the match, finished with 14 saves and a 45% saving efficiency, as the South American champions delivered Spain their second-largest loss in history at the Olympic Games, 29:18, after the 15-goal loss against the Republic of Korea, 21:36, at Athens 2004.

As Brazil are looking for a place in the quarter-finals, they will face Hungary next, on Sunday, while Spain are already in a precarious position, needing a win to extend their hopes for a place in the knockout phase when they face Angola.