Strong Portugal extend Olympics hopes with win over Tunisia

Portugal opened their account in the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 in Tatabanya, with a strong performance against Tunisia, 37:29, keeping their chances alive for a ticket to Paris 2024. On the other hand, with the second loss in as many matches, Tunisia see their chances diminish significantly, needing a miracle in the last match against Norway to progress.

Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3
Portugal vs Tunisia 37:29 (18:12)

With both sides conceding losses in the first match in the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3, there was no room for mistake for neither Portugal, nor Tunisia in the mutual match in Tatabanya, with both sides searching for their maiden win, which would extend their chances for a Paris 2024 ticket.

A strong 4:0 start of the match, in four minutes and 29 seconds, saw Portugal improve their chances for the win, despite coach Paulo Pereira resting key starters like Francisco and Martim Costa for the match, while another key back, Salvador Salvador had only one shot throughout the first 30 minutes.

But Tunisia bounced back and took advantage of Portugal’s mishaps, as right wing Issam Rzig led the charge for a 6:2 run, which saw Tunisia, which failed to score in the first five minutes, turn, mount a serious comeback and create some issues for Portugal, which took a team time-out to calm things down.

Indeed, that break had the soothing effect Paulo Pereira envisioned, as the European side conceded only four goals in the last 18 minutes of the match, scoring 13 in that span, as their attack went full throttle, with eight different players scoring at least one goal.

Adding Gustavo Capdeville’s seven saves (37% saving efficiency), Portugal looked to be unstoppable, especially with line player Luis Frade, already their top scorer in the loss against Norway, adding four more goals, to create an unassailable 18:10 lead at the break.

As Paulo Pereira also thought about the match against Hungary on Sunday, Portugal started rotating their players, but the gap was still growing in the second half, as a 5:1 run to start the second part, fueled by more saves from Capdeville proved to be decisive.

With a 10-goal lead in the bag, Portugal kept on pressing and even opened a 12-goal lead, but faltered in the end, as Tunisia saved a bit of pride in the end, as a 4:0 run between the 49th and the 52nd minutes helped them avoid a double-digit loss, as they did against Hungary.

With only two outfield players failing to score for Portugal, the European side clinched a 37:29 win and opened their account in the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3, extending their hopes for a place at Paris 2024.

Portugal still have hopes of progressing to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in back-to-back appearances in the Olympic Games, but they will need to add another win against Hungary in the last match, on Sunday, while Tunisia’s hopes are only on paper, after the African side failed to create any issues to Hungary and Portugal in their first two matches, with a match against Norway on the menu on Sunday. 

hummel Player of the Match: Luis Frade (Portugal)