The men’s Olympic handball opened with two safe bets as Spain and Egypt claimed victories against Slovenia and Hungary respectively.
Spain woke up this morning with a game against Slovenia. A somewhat slow start with Spain almost breaking a new personal record for low goals in the first half. But in the second, they pushed the gas pedal, fine-tuned the tactics and slipped away to secure victory. Most things as usual, in other words.
In the following match we got to see an interesting battle between the master and the apprentice. Juan Carlos Pastor is the one who basically taught Chema Rodriguez everything he knows about handball. Pastor coached Chema in Valladolid from the age of 19 to 27 and of course also in the Spanish national team.
This time Pastor came out on top with his Egypt who won 35-32. Interesting that Yahia Omar looks to be in good shape. It will be important if Egypt is to seriously interfere in the fight for the semi-finals.
Spain – Slovenia 25 – 22 (8-11)
Top three Spanish goalscorers:
Alex Gomez 7
Daniel Dujshebaev 5
Daniel Fernandez 4
Top three Slovenian goalscorers:
Dean Bomback 5
Tilen Kodrin 4
Kristjan Horzen 3
Hungary – Egypt 32 – 35 (15-19)
Top three Hungarian goalscorers:
Bence Imre 7
Gergo Fazekas 5
Richard Bodo 4
Mate Lekai 4
Top three Egyptian goalscorers:
Yahya Omar 9
Ahmed Adel 9
Yehia Elderaa 6