Paris 2024 | Goals galore, as Spain edge out Japan in fast-paced match

After scoring only 51 goals in the first two matches in the men’s handball competition at Paris 2024, Spain delivered an excellent attacking outing against Japan, their second best in history in terms of goals scored at the Olympic Games, to take a 37:33 win.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP A
Spain vs Japan 37:33 (20:18)

Before the match against Japan, their third at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Spain had two underwhelming attacking outings against Slovenia and Sweden, scoring only 51 goals in the first two matches, figures somewhere removed from the ones put up on the scoreboard by the traditional attacking powerhouse.

The European side needed a win against Japan to enhance their chances for a quarter-finals berth and a good position in the standings at the end of the group, while for the Asian side it was a last-chance saloon, after two losses against Croatia and Germany.

Yet the match was never going to be easy for “Los Hispanos”, as Japan had a fine connoisseur of Spanish handball on the bench, Antonio Carlos Ortega, who had 144 appearances as a player for Spain, over 500 goals scored and a bronze medal at Sydney 2000. And indeed, Ortega tried to exert as much pressure possible on Spain.

What resulted was a free-flowing match, full of attacking firepower, as the two sides traded goals, with Spain at the helm more or less throughout the whole match, but not opening a four-goal lead until the 35th minute, when they took a 24:20 lead against a plucky Japan side, who matches Spain’s output almost goal-for-goal.

In fact, Spain tied the record for the largest number goals of scored in the first half at the Olympic Games, 20, set against Brazil at Beijing 2008, with nine players scoring at least one goal, with backs Ian Tarrafeta and Imanol Garciandia, plus wings Daniel Fernandez and Aleix Gomez each scoring three goals on their way to a 20:18 lead.

But Japan, spurred by Ortega, who stated before the start of the Olympics that his team “might lose, but lose in their way”, stayed true to themselves and continued to press, deploying the same type of fast and attacking handball, displayed in the match against Croatia with big efficiency and against Germany, when a bad start stopped them in their tracks.

Centre backs Kosuke Yasuhira and Naoki Fujisaka were Japan’s best scorers in the match, combining for 14 goals, but Spain’s superior depth was there to be seen throughout the 60 minutes, when in the closing minutes, the European side opened their maiden five-goal lead, 34:29, with seven minutes to go, as the match looked to be over.

Eventually, Spain delivered a 37:33 win, with their 37 goals being the second largest number of goals scored by “Los Hispanos” at the Olympic Games, only four goals shy of the record, set against Slovenia, at Athens 2004. Japan conceded their third loss and with matches against Slovenia and Sweden next, the Asian side only has virtual chances of securing a place in the quarter-finals, with Spain, Germany and Croatia already on four points in the group standings.