Sarmiento Park, Buenos Aires, witnessed a mega crowd for the final day of the men's and women's beach handball competition today.
In the men's competition, the Spain beat Croatia and Portugal defeated Argentina in their semi-finals which both went to a shoot-out.
2018 Youth Olympic Games – Buenos Aires
Matchday 6: Men’s Finals Day – Saturday 13 October
- World champions Spain to play Portugal in final
- Spain defeat Croatians after 7:6 shoot-out win
- Portugal break host nation hearts, defeating Argentina in shoot-out
- Semi-finals played this morning, bronze and gold matches this afternoon
For the match schedules and results click HERE and HERE. How to Follow the Games HERE.
Portugal defeated Argentina in the first semi-final of the day - a game which saw fans queuing for two hours before its 0930 hrs start.
On the second matchday of Buenos Aires 2018, hosts Argentina had beaten Portugal clearly in a 14:8 shoot-out to win 2:1 win but today they would be on the end of a shoot-out loss with greater importance.
"I feel out of myself, we came here to play for the medals and it’s an amazing feel to be in the final," said Portugal goalkeeper Joao Goncalves to IHF.info. "Now we’re going to go to the final and we’re going for gold obviously – there’s no other way."
The second semi-final also saw another Buenos Aires re-match as Spain beat Croatia again, after their first victory (2:0) in the main round.
This time it was much closer as Spain took the shoot-out 7:6, after Croatia were penalised for Ivan Palac stepping on the line as he prepared to shoot.
Earlier on in the game Marko Maruncic had received a red card for Croatia following two suspensions but his team rallied and nearly knocked the world champions off of their perch.
The Iberian teams now meet for the final, while Argentina will hope to leave their home Olympics with a medal.
Matches (all times local)
14:10 Bronze Medal (3/4 Place): Argentina vs Croatia
15:50 Gold Medal (1/2 Place): Spain vs Portugal