Handball: Brazil fights Denmark, but falls at the women's Worlds

Lionesses lose in the quarters, but do better campaign since 2013

Published on 14/12/2021 - 18:52 By Lincoln Chaves - Repórter da TV Brasil e da Rádio Nacional - São Paulo

The women's handball team had the dream of a two-time world championship postponed. This Tuesday (14), the Brazilians were overtaken by Denmark by 30 to 25 at the Granollers Sports Palace (Spain), in the quarterfinals of the competition. The Lionesses (as the national team is known) say goodbye after five wins and two losses and wait for the knockout sequence to know the final classification.

The campaign, however, was the best in the country at the Worlds since the 2013 title. Brazil went to the competition on Spanish soil amid a renewal, with only two remnants of the last achievement (Babi Arenhart and Ana Paula Belo) and without Duda Amorim, elected the best player in the world in the past decade by the specialized website Handball Planet, who retired from the national team in October, after the Olympics in Tokyo (Japan), where the team didn't even pass the first phase. The coach was also new: Cristiano Rocha, who was assistant to the Spaniard Jorge Dueñas, who was fired after the Games.

The first half of the match against Denmark was balanced. Although the Europeans remain ahead, reaching a three-goal advantage, the Brazilian attack gave goalkeeper Sandra Toft (elected the best on the court) some work. Mainly Adriana Doce, top scorer in the game with ten goals, five in each half. The Lionesses even tied the game 13-13, but conceded the 14th goal seconds before the break.

In the final stage, the Danes showed why they have one of the best defenses at the World Cup and showed efficiency to take advantage of the gaps that Brazil started to leave in the defense (especially at the wings, where the opponents had 100% offensive use). With 70% of overall efficiency in the shots, against 49% of the Brazilians, the Europeans opened five goals ahead and managed the result, returning to the semifinals of the competition for the first time in eight years.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.

Edition: Fábio Lisboa

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