
Hungary dominate Guinea for first win at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025
January 17, 2025
Big win against USA sees Norway through to main round
January 17, 2025Portugal mustered a fantastic comeback in the second half of the match against Brazil to clinch a main round spot at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, with a fantastic performance from left back Martim Costa, who scored nine goals.
GROUP E
Portugal vs Brazil 30:26 (12:15)
The last match between the two sides at the IHF Men’s World Championship, two years ago, at Poland/Sweden 2023, ended in a 28:28 deadlock, after a fiery match, which saw the two teams trade blows throughout the 60 minutes, as Brazil finally tied the match with a penalty at the buzzer.
This time around, a win would have meant even more, as the winning side would progress to the main round and improve their chances for a quarter-final, with Portugal as slight favourites, even if Brazil were coming after a fantastic win against Norway, which seriously boosted their credentials.
But if Brazil went down 4:0 against Norway in the first match, this time around they recorded the perfect start, taking a four-goal lead after five minutes, with backs Acacio Filho and Haniel Langaro each scoring two goals. By the time Portugal did wake up, after seven minutes and 54 seconds, everything was already going into Brazil’s way.
That meant that Portugal were going to chase their opponents all the way down to the finish line, as their attack simply failed to produce the much-needed output, especially as Paulo Pereira deployed a seven-on-six attack, which was easily punished by Brazil’s fast throw-offs.
At the end of the first half, Portugal were looking in dire straits, three goals down, 12:15, with the Costa brothers, considered the best attacking weapons for Pereira’s side, combining for only four goals from 10 shots, as Portugal’s attack needed serious improvement.
And that improvement came in the second part, albeit not without issues, as Portugal were four goals down in the 34th minute, 14:18, with Brazil throwing off the half in emphatic fashion. But when Rangel da Rosa’s saves dried up, with the South American side’s goalkeepers producing only three saves between the 34th and 52nd minutes, Portugal were back in business.
First, they missed three chances to tie the score, due to several turnovers or misses, but when they did back, it was game over for Brazil. It was the defence which shined for Portugal, enabling the European side to use a 6:1 run to turn the match on its head, taking a three-goal lead, 26:23, with seven minutes to go.
But also the fantastic turnaround of Martim Costa, who looked like the EHF EURO 2024 joint top scorer, as he became unstoppable in the second half, scoring at free will. His brother, Francisco, finished the match with five goals, but Martim, the hummel Player of the Match, really took the game to the opponents, scoring seven goals only in the second half, improving his overall tally to nine goals in the match and 16 goals in the competition.
With Gustavo Capdeville also working wonders between the posts, Brazil were limited to a single goal between the 44th and the 57th minutes, producing their worst passage of play in this edition of the world handball flagship competition, with Portugal’s 8:1 run being clearly the pivotal moment of the match.
Eventually, Portugal secured a clear 30:26 win, as they were unleashed in the second half, where they outscored Brazil 18:11, scoring exactly 30 goals for the second match in a row and making it two out of two at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.
Portugal secured their main round berth with this win, as they are on four points, as they are due to face Norway in the last match of the group, while Brazil stay on two points, but, in theory, have a plum fixture against the USA, in order to fully secure their spot into the next phase.
hummel Player of the Match: Martim Costa (Portugal)