Group A of the men’s Olympic tournament has been left nicely poised after two rounds, following Sweden’s 29:26 win over Spain on Monday afternoon.
Glenn Solberg was unafraid to go with an almost completely new lineup for today’s contest, perhaps in reaction to the opening day loss but more likely a sign of faith in his full squad, and that faith was repaid with a rejuvenated performance.
The final score flatters Spain a little because they never really looked like threatening once Sweden took the lead. After a back and forth opening quarter, both sides enjoyed a purple patch. First with Sweden racing into an 11:7 lead, before Spain responded with four of their own to draw level at the break.
Too hot to handle
Sweden may have let their first opportunity to dominate slip but they didn’t make the same mistake twice.
With an inspired Tobias Thulin in goals (15 saves at 38%) and a free-flowing counter attack set at max speed, Sweden put their opponents to the sword in a manner they would have to begrudgingly admire. Swedish wingers scored five goals in a row as they extended the lead to 27:20, game over.
Their top three scorers were Pellas, Bergendahl and Karlsson with five each, which means that the back court was somewhat quiet once again, not that this will bother Solberg too much this time around.
Despite a strong performance by both goalkeepers, Perez de Vargas (7 saves, 41%) Corrales (9 saves, 33%), Spain always looked second-best in this one and the late flurry of scores simply put a gloss on the final result.
It leaves this group with four sides level on one win, behind Germany’s perfect record, and the race for the quarter-finals begins to heat up with Sweden set to face Slovenia and Spain taking on Japan this Wednesday.