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Date: 8/14/2016
 

A spectacular display from goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart guided Brazil to a win in their final preliminary round match at the 2016 Olympic Games. The hosts defeated the silver medallists from the 2012 Olympic Games, Montenegro, by six goals to secure their last set of two points, before Norway beat Romania to finish on eight points from four wins. 

The final match of the evening saw the remaining quarter-final places in the group decided, as Spain defeated Angola to book one ticket while the African team secured the other thanks to their preliminary round victory against Romania. With the result of the last Group A match, the 2015 IHF World Championship bronze medallists were knocked out of the running for the Olympic title. 

After the round five results Brazil top the group, Norway finish second, Spain rank third and Angola finish fourth on the table, while Romania are fifth and Montenegro finish sixth. 

Future Arena, Sunday 14 August
Group A: Montenegro vs Brazil 23:29 (10:12)

Montenegro ended their disappointing Rio 2016 campaign with a defeat against the hosts – though it was a more positive performance than others during the group phase for the silver medallists at the 2012 Olympic Games. The 60 minutes were somewhat level, with just a two-goal distance between the teams at half-time, but Montenegro had serious trouble finding the goal behind Brazil keeper Barbara Arenhart, who made 18 saves to finish on a rate of 44%. 

Montenegro have been so troubled throughout their Olympic campaign that coach Dragan Adzic, widely regarded as one of the most successful women’s coaches given his success with both the national team and his club side Buducnost, announced his resignation following their round four loss to Norway. 

Despite their problems Adzic’s team were ready to fight for one last chance at a victory, though they allowed the hosts to pull in front to a 5:1 advantage after five minutes, then lead 10:5 in the 16th when Fernanda Franca da Silva took the Pan American champions to double digits. A late run through the last 13 minutes of the half with goals from Jovanka Radicevic and Biljana Pavicevic helped Montenegro decrease the gap to a more promising difference, hinting at the more closely matched second half to come. 

Brazil opened the second period stronger, reclaiming control at 15:10 before Montenegro joined the race – but from the beginning the European team were always chasing. They did well to decrease the score line with Majda Mehmedovic closing the deficit to 17:21 after running in as second line player and converting a shot that had previously been saved by Arenhart. Arenhart was so strong that Montenegro scored just four shots from 15 six-metre shots in the match. 

With 15 minutes on the clock it was Mehmedovic who earned a penalty for Montenegro, converted by the youngest female player at Rio 2016, Durdina Jaukovic, which continued her team’s 100% accuracy with four goals from four shots from the seven-metre line in the game. 

But they could not beat Arenhart. As the clock ticked past 20 minutes the keeper made another save (25:20), and it was she who stopped Montenegro’s progress in the 26th on a difficult fast break (26:22). In the last five minutes it was clear Brazil would hold on to record the victory, which was never really in question despite Montenegro’s every effort to challenge the home team. 

Group A: Norway vs Romania 28:27 (14:13)

The recent history between Norway and Romania, combined with the motivation for Romania who took to the court with their last chance to claim a place in the quarter-finals, promised an exciting match between two of the medallists at Denmark 2015. The sides met in the semi-final stage at the 2015 IHF Women’s World Championship, in a thrilling game decided in extra time. Following that match in December, Romania and Norway played each other twice in the qualification phase for the Women’s EHF EURO 2016, with one win for each team – including the first victory for Romania in an encounter with the current world, Olympic and European champions since 2000. 

It was therefore of little surprise that the score was level through the first eight minutes when Cristina Neagu (11 goals) scored her third goal to equalise at 5:5. Goals from right wing Amanda Kurtovic and line player Heidi Loke took Norway in front by two at 7:5 when the clock showed 10 minutes, before Romania answered thanks to their right wing Laura Chiper followed by Neagu. 

The narrow advantage changed hands as the half progressed, and at the 20-minute mark it was an equal game at 10:10. The score was still locked at 13:13 in the 26th when Romania goalkeeper Paula Ungureanu made a great save against Norway right wing Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren, and after no goals for three minutes from either side Nora Mork added the crucial goal that put the Scandinavian team in front by one as half-time approached. 

In the second period Norway moved ahead to a three-goal advantage at 18:15 before Neagu scored a strong ground shot to decrease the deficit at 16:18, but as the clock ticked on her team fell further behind to 20:24 by the 45-minute mark. That distance persisted and when Norway led 28:25 in the 57th it seemed the match was decided. 

It was not – Ungureanu saved a penalty off Veronika Kristiansen and gave her team renewed energy as they moved into attack. Neagu missed the shot set up by her side’s well-orchestrated attack, but luck was on their side as Kurtovic caused a turnover that gave Romania another chance. With two minutes left no more goals had been scored, before Geiger closed the gap to 26:28 with just over 60 seconds remaining. 

Norway did not find the goal on their attack and Eliza Buceschi earned a penalty for Romania with 10 seconds left. Neagu converted the goal, but it was too late for them to come any closer than one, and the Denmark 2015 bronze medallists left the court with a heartbreakingly-narrow defeat behind them. 

The loss meant Romania relied on the result of Spain versus Angola, played following their game, and when Spain celebrated a win some hours later, Romania were knocked out of the Rio 2016 handball competition. 

Group A: Spain vs Angola 26:22 (13:12) 

The 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallists showed why they are nicknamed Guerreras with an impressive victory against Angola, where they fought hard through to the final whistle to secure a place in the quarter-finals. Both teams were clearly motivated to win, and it was therefore a tough match decided only in the last few minutes thanks to crucial saves from Silvia Navarro and Spanish goals scored under pressure. 

Spain were a touch stronger through the opening but by the 10-minute mark it was a level game at 5:5 when Darly Zoqbi made a great save that kept the African team from moving ahead. The score remained level as the half continued, though Spain held a narrow advantage as Elisabeth Pinedo moved the European team in front to 7:6 in the 13th. Elizabet Chavez received a suspension in the 15th and Isabel Evelize Guialo scored the resulting penalty, but Spain kept Angola under control during her absence and the score remained level at 8:8 in the 17th. After that however Spain lost another player on a suspension – this time Macarena Aguilar – and Angola added a goal thanks to Natalia Maria Bernardo. 

After Guialo tallied her fifth goal from five shots, Spain coach Jorge Duenas used his first time-out (10:8 to Angola, 19th minute), after which Spain scored three consecutive goals – one from Neli Alberto then two in a row by Alexandrina Cabral, earning the European team an advantage at 11:10 in the 22nd. 

Neither team found the goal for five minutes after that, though Angola received two suspensions that meant they had just four players on the court. Spain did not capitalise on the extreme numerical advantage however, making errors in attack and losing the ball more than once. Only goalkeeper Silvia Navarro saved them from Angola closing the gap, until the European team added another goal with a fast break from left wing Naiara Egozkue (12:10, 27th minute). 

By the half-time break Angola had decreased the deficit to one, but they were not ready for the way in which Spain would return from the break. Through the first five minutes of the second period the Guerreras recorded a 4:1 run that took them ahead to 17:13. The African team added a goal off a rebound scored by right wing Juliana Jose Machado, but when Guialo shot well wide of the goal on their next attempt it seemed the momentum had firmly shifted Spain’s way. 

When Azenaide Daniela Carlos was sent off for two minutes in the 41st minute, Spain held an advantage at 19:15. Magda Alfredo Cazanga received her third two-minute suspension in the 42nd, and with it a red card, after which Martin put Spain on 20 goals from a penalty (20:16). With the score at 21:18 for Spain and the clock entering the last quarter of the match Navarro made a penalty save against Guialo, and her team retained that three-goal difference as Cabral scored a fast break in the 52nd (23:20). 

As the last five minutes of the game began both goalkeepers – Navarro for Spain and Angola’s Neide Marisa Barbosa – made saves, keeping the score at 23:21 for the London 2012 bronze medallists. Aguilar ran through a gap created by Mangue in Spain’s next attack to earn her team a three-goal lead with three minutes left, before Carlos added her fourth goal to take the deficit back to two (22:24). 

Cabral scored the deciding goal (25:22), before picking up a loose ball in Angola’s next attack – two crucial actions that made it near impossible for Angola to come back with only two minutes left on the clock. The African side fought to find the goal but they could not, while Spain added one more to secure the victory, and with it their place in the quarter-finals. 

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