Spain beats Egypt in men's handball bronze-medal thriller

Spain won Olympic handball bronze beating gritty Egypt 33-31 in a nail-biting clash at the Yoyogi National Stadium.

With less than a minute on the clock, Spain held on to a precarious one-point lead over the spirited Egypt, who made history in Tokyo 2020, becoming the first African team to reach an Olympic handball semi-final.

Egypt’s hopes of a comeback for an upset were dashed when Raul Entrerrios sent a final goal into the back of the net with seconds to play to cement the victory. While Entrerrios sparked the celebrations, Aleix Gomez Abello proved to be Spain’s biggest contributor scoring eight goals from nine shots. 

The victory secured Spain their fourth Olympic bronze medal, adding to their medals in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008.

Spain held a three-point lead going into the half-time break on 19-16, surviving a series of onslaughts from Egypt. Egypt held an early two-point lead in the first half before the Spanish pulled slightly ahead.

Six minutes into the second half, Egypt’s Yehia Elderaa found the breakthrough for his team levelling the scores on 21-all. 

The rest of the match was effectively a tit-for-tat battle as they exchanged blows on either side of the court. The stalemate was enforced seven times over the final 20-odd minutes of the match without Egypt taking the lead once during this time.