Qatar juniors stage spirited fightback to stun Spain 27-26

Qatar team (in white) in action against Spain during their Group B clash at the World Junior Handball Championship being played in Brazil. Qatar won 27-26.

Agencies/Uberlandia, BrazilIt was a great outing for Qatar youngsters at the 2015 Men's World Junior Handball Championship, being played in Brazil, on Monday.In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, Qatar snatched a last-minute 27-26 victory over Spain to top  Group B, alongside Serbia. Qatar were trailing 11-16 at the halfway stage but staged a valiant fightback in the final 10 minutes of the match to snatch a memorable win.There were other surprises too, with Portugal causing a big upset against Romania in the form of an unexpected draw. The night wrapped up with Serbia recording a decisive win over Angola, which means the European side sit alongside Qatar on top of the group table. Spain and Qatar were the first on the court at Uberlandia Sabiazinho to begin with evenly-matched opening minutes. Several quick goals scored early on showed that both sides were more focused in attack, but before long Spain began to show the class that earned their generation a fourth-place finish at the 2013 Men’s Youth World Handball Championship. Midway through the half Spain were in front by three (10-7) thanks to their smart and patient attack which Qatar’s high-pressure 3-2-1 defensive system could not counter. Spain retained their three-goal advantage as the clock ticked through the first period—Qatar’s aggressive defense managed to keep Spain from getting too far ahead, but the Asian side struggled to get the ball past goalkeeper Ignacio Biosca Garcia at the other end of the court. Spain took a five-goal lead into the break which surely buoyed their confidence, but they returned to find a much stronger opponent. Qatar came back within one goal of their European opponents by the 35th minute, and from that point it was a race to the final whistle, with Qatar trailing by one goal for most of the half. At the 50th minute Spain held a narrow lead (23-22), which they kept until Qatar levelled the score and then took the lead with a fast break goal from Ahmad Madadi (24:25) with just four minutes remaining. The advantage further energised Qatar while Spain stuck to their usual calm attack. Qatar scored again with just a minute on the clock, followed by another fast break goal from Abdulaziz Helali that sealed the victory for the Asian champions. “We played so badly at the beginning of the match and made life easier for Spain. They could score a goal whenever and however they wanted. It was the second half when we finally proved how good of a team we are; our defence was much better," Qatar right-back Luka Bendevis analysed after the match.“However, my team can play much better handball and we will do it in the upcoming matches,” he added.His Spanish counterpart, left-back Arnau Garcia Barcelo, said the opposite was true for his team, and that their first half was far better than their second: “We played very good, intense and aggressive defence in the first half, but missed a lot in the second. Furthermore, we conceded many turnovers, but it was not a result of underestimating the opponent. It just happened.”The Romania-Portugal game ended in a draw (26-26). Portugal were not the favourites coming into the match—Romania knocked out the 2013 Men’s Youth World Championship silver medalists, Croatia, to book their ticket to Brazil 2015, while Portugal failed to qualify initially before being awarded Oceania’s spot after the southern federation withdrew. But Portugal came quickly out of the blocks to surprise Romania with an early four-goal lead (3-7). Romania eventually warmed up, gradually decreasing the scoreline thanks to a 4-2 defensive system until they trailed by just one goal in the 15th minute (7-8). The one-goal difference was not to last however—Portugal pulled ahead again to hold a four-goal advantage (11-15) at half-time. In the second period Romania began to show their strength and narrowed the scoreline to two. Romania’s Adrian Vladut Rotaru received a direct red card in the 40th minute (17-19), but that did little to lessen his team’s determination. As the clock ticked on Portugal retained at least a two-goal lead in what had become a fast-paced, physical game. Both teams had penalties around the 50th minute—Portugal’s Miguel Martins and Nicusor Andrei Negru's goals took the score to 21-24. Portugal’s Nuno Carvalhais was disqualified after three two-minute suspensions before Romania managed to come back within one goal. Yet another red card was issued, this time a direct to Portugal’s Leitao Francisco as the match entered its heated final minute.  Romania received a penalty with just over 20 seconds left, which Dan Emil Racotea scored to level the score 26-26 with ten seconds remaining. Portugal had possession but were unable to score, and the game ended in a draw. In the final match of the evening, Serbia thrashed Angola 31-14. Serbia were quick to take the lead from the start, completely controlling the match while Angola worked hard with no result for the first 10 minutes. It was a tough task for Angola to get on the score board, but the African side had the support of the crowd—every time they scored it was greeted with enthusiastic cheers. Nevertheless, the game belonged to Serbia. At half-time the European side had a 13-goal advantage—a lead they only continued to increase as the match went on. By the end of the match, Serbia had more than doubled Angola’s score. Serbia can now look forward to a challenging match against Portugal, while Angola prepare to face Spain in the second round of Group B matches tonight.