Brazil open account at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 with convincing win against Ukraine

Nord Arena in Fredrikshavn welcomed the players for the first time at the 2023 IHF Women's World Championship, as the fans had the chance to watch Brazil claim their third-ever win against Ukraine at the world handball flagship competition, with a 35:20 dominating performance. After a shy start, the South American side stepped up a gear and left Ukraine powerless with a good defensive display.

Group G
Brazil vs Ukraine 35:20 (17:10)

Brazil opened their 14th World Championship appearance with a win, but they had a more nervous start to the game. Goalkeeper Bárbara Arenhart created huge problems for the Ukrainian players, stopping six out of the first ten attempts she faced. However, the Brazilian attack did not take the most out of it, as they missed clear chances and made mistakes. As a consequence, Ukraine was trailing only by one in the 12th minute of the game, 6:5.

It took some time to get their engines going and when they did, Ukraine could not keep up with Brazil. Turnovers and misses, in spite of two team time-outs, left them goalless for 12 straight minutes as Brazil widened the gap from 6:5 to 16:5.

When Karina Soskyda scored her first goal, it looked like Ukraine are finally starting to feel more secure on the court and finished the first half with four straight goals, lowering the Brazilian lead to 17:10. The true difference in experience between the two sides in the first half was visible in the statistics - while Brazil was at 74 per cent of shot efficiency, their opponents were at 40 per cent, as Ukraine simply could not find the solutions for Brazil's defence.

Ten minutes into the second half, head coach Vitaliy Andronov used his third time-out where he mostly talked about not running back to defence and the wrong approach, as Ukraine had turnover by a turnover, losing 18 balls in attack throughout the whole match.

As a result, the gap grew constantly, even to 13 goals, when Mariana Costa netted her seventh goal at the game, equalising with Bruna de Paula as Brazil's top scorer. Not much changed until the final buzzer, with Brazil still dominating. Ukraine showed they are not giving up even when everything is done, running to make a fast break while being 15 goals behind.

Tetiana Poliak and Tamara Smbatian managed to get four balls behind Brazilian goalkeepers, making them their side's best players. At the same time, 13 out of 14 field players scored at least once for Brazil.

Despite a double-digit defeat, Ukraine made the first step of a comeback among the best, welcoming their first World Championship game after 14 years. They can gain only valuable experience and keep their heads high ahead of the match against Spain in the next matchday, while Brazil will seek a second win in a row against Kazakhstan to virtually make it to the main round.

hummel Player of the Match: Bruna Almeida De Paula (Brazil)