The men’s handball team in Brazil maintained its sequence of positive results and got an unprecedented victory against Spain on Sunday (26). Now, next Wednesday (29) Denmark in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, which is being played in Croatia, Denmark and Norway.
The Brazilian place was already guaranteed after the unprecedented victory, on Friday (24), about Norway, but this Sunday’s matches defined the meetings of the next round. Portugal ended the group phase ahead of Brazil with a quiet triumph over Chile, 46 to 28, and faces Germany, also next Wednesday.
Already the Brazilians faced a quarry against Spain, with a 26 to 25 victory defined in the last seconds of the match, when Spanish Ian Barrufet sent the ball out in the last bid. Coach Marcus Oliveira, from Brazil, decided to rest Captain Thiagus Petrus and gave a chance to several younger players throughout the match, as well as the coach of the already eliminated Spanish team.
Brazil soon opened an advantage on the scoreboard, reaching 7 to 3, but the Spaniards ran after and equaled the game at 14 to 14 early in the second half. The Brazilians grew again, marking 22 to 18, but Spain tried to draw until the last moment.
The defeat left Spain in 18th place, the worst in Worlds in its history. Already Brazil, second in its group, makes its best campaign by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time.
Denmark has won the last three worlds and reached the beginning of the tournament surfing in a sequence of 28 matches without losing. The song has not changed since then: passed the preliminary rounds and the main phase of unbeaten groups, with ten wins in ten matches.
Brazil and Denmark face each other in Oslo, on Wednesday (29), at 13:30 (Brasília time).
