Three facts to start with: France is the most decorated team in the history of the sport – six World Championships, four European Championships, of which it is the reigning champion, and three Olympic gold medals -; this was the game in which Portugal conceded the most goals, not only in the era of Paulo Jorge Pereira, which began in 2016, but in the entire record of the Quinas team at least since the 1994 European Championship – 46, against 44, also from France (44-38), in the Strasbourg Tournament, in preparation for last year’s World Cup; 40, from Denmark (40-27), in the last World Cup; and Sweden (40-33), in the Main Round of the European Championship in Germany”24; and, thirdly, considering the objective that the National Team set itself, fifth place, that is, the best classification ever in European Championships (sixth, in 2020), is still possible.
There is also another relevant fact: this was the match with the most goals (84) in the entire history of the continental competition.
Bad start, unrecognizable Portugal
The report of the worst game of the Heroes of the Sea since the coach Paulo Jorge Pereira took over, and baptized them, came five days after the best, or, guaranteed, one of the best performances, when they beat Denmark, at the home of the Scandinavians, by 29-31, in the last meeting of the initial phase of this European Championship.
The National Team played a horrible first half, in which they seemed to aim to accumulate errors and not goals – they lost the ball in total! -, there was no goal, with Pedro Tonicher making the only save of that period, around 20″, to a shot by Melvyn Richardson, in a counterattack, and, in the attack, he was without ideas. But, worse than all this, the athletes were not the warriors that they have accustomed us to. In fact, at 20″34″”, in the second team out – he had already asked for one at 9-4 -, Paulo Jorge Pereira made everything very clear: “We are not being We are not fighting, this is not us! It doesn’t matter if we lose by 50, but we have to be us again”, warned the troops, at a time when the score read 21-10. In other words, even before the Gauls’ maximum advantage (27-13), a difference of 14 goals, which occurred again in the second half, at 33-19.
Shortly after the time-out we mentioned, the national team started to play 7×6, an attacking formula that they would repeat in the second half, but without any noticeable effect. The day wasn’t really for the Portuguese, who only blurred the differences because, with the challenge won at half-time (28-15), the blues returned to the field equally serious, but playing, let’s say, at 80 km/h and not at the 120 km/h they had been traveling until then.
Improvements are misleading
It is true that Portugal considerably reduced the difference on the scoreboard and, out of a maximum of 14 goals, they lost “only” by eight (46-38), a partial that had not occurred since 16-8, in the middle of the first half.
But this was much more a reflection of more relaxed French athletes than of Portuguese athletes suddenly transformed for the better. In other words, anyone who thinks that the team has improved its performance is mistaken. No, I just knew how to take advantage of some normal ease in a team that had long had the two points in hand.
Signs of a bad first half
With just four missed shots, France broke the record for half-time goals (28) in a European Championship game. The Portuguese goalkeepers contributed to this record, one of the most obvious weaknesses of the National Team, as in those 30 minutes they made one save! No high-level team can have these numbers from their guardians, athletes from a specific position that is increasingly crucial in handball. In the past it was said that they were 50% of a team. With the game getting faster and faster and the number of shots getting higher and higher… Another sign of the first half, Martim and Kiko Costa had one goal each. Martim ended up with one, but Kiko with four and continues to be the best in the European Championship, with 43 goals.
The figure | Salvador Salvador: goals, passes and defensive action
Another of the “old acquaintances”, but still young, with just 24 years old and two clubs under his belt: Samora Correia and Sporting. Essentially used in defensive actions, he managed to steal the ball and make a block. But, in attack, he scored five goals with six shots and six assists.
“We didn’t have clear ideas”
National coach assumed poor effectiveness. Portugal’s coach, who saw the team he leads lose by 12 goals, continues to believe in fifth place in the European Championship, even though he knows that now “it’s more difficult”.
“France was very effective and we were very ineffective in defense and attack. We were unable to have clear ideas on how to approach that defensive system. We wanted to do everything very quickly, as has happened in other games”, summarized the national coach, Paulo Jorge Pereira. “The seven against six allows us to have a better defensive recovery, because we only have to change one player. And, even if we may not be making an extraordinary attack, which was not the case, we managed to solve the problem of the defensive transition”, he also analyzed, considering the improvements evident.
“We gave a completely different image in the second half of what Portugal is and what we are used to. At half-time we talked about some tactical solutions, but above all about the pride we have to have and the self-confidence necessary to play games with teams like France, one of the most titled in the world”, he said, continuing to believe: “It’s more difficult, but we’re still committed to the objective. Let’s see the results and what will happen in the other teams”.
Iturriza: “What could go wrong, did”
Victor Iturriza, who missed the challenge against Germany due to punishment, addressed the heavy defeat against France. “Unfortunately we didn’t have a good day and what was supposed to go wrong, it did. In the first half we couldn’t play our game in attack and, in defense, we conceded a lot of goals to the French. Against a team like this it’s expensive”, he recalled. “We were immediately out of the game, or practically out, in the first half, losing by 13 goals”, he acknowledged, declaring that “it wasn’t the game we expected to play”. “It’s very difficult to reach the semi-finals in this group. All the teams are very close to each other, we have to do our job and try to play good games with Norway and Spain”, concluded the former FC Porto center, now in Kuwait.
