
Brazil and Angola both arrived to the fourth round with the first defeat suffered in the last match: Brazil lost to Spain and Angola lost to superior Norway in the third round of the competition. According to the rankings, this match should have been the only ‘easier ticket’ for the hosts in the group, however, Angola showed in the first two rounds that they didn’t come here just to participate but they want to be a competition to every opponent.
Brazil started better, they took a quick 2-0 lead in the beginning, but Angola didn’t make the same mistake again to lose control already in the first minutes of the game. After equalizing by 3-3, the Angolans were the ones taking the lead constantly. After 18 minutes played, they had a three-goal advantage (9-6) over the Brazilians who made a lot of mistakes in attack. Angola’s leader was once again Natalia Bernardo, she netted several times already during the first half. After a 11-8 Angolan lead, Brazil found the rhythm of the game and with a fast break from Jessica Quintino, they levelled the score at 11-11. However, the hosts were not able to take the lead in the end of the first half: the Africans always had a response to every Brazilian goal. The half finished with 13-13 on the scoreboard.

Angola wasn’t really far from Brazil’s level.
Right in the early minutes of the second half, Brazil was able to take the lead. Angola didn’t give up and Brazil was still making a lot of mistakes in attack and defense which helped the Angolans score easier. In the 38th minute, Angola’s Albertina Kassoma received a two minutes suspension which resulted in Brazil’s first three-goal lead in the match (16-19). The Brazilians found their rhythm, they were very effective from the wings by Fernanda da Silva, Samira Rocha and Jessica Quintino. The Angolans weren’t as accurate as before in this period of the game, and Barbara Arenhart made some spectacular saves in the Brazilian goal. The biggest difference was reached after 54 minutes, Brazil was up 27-20 with a fast break of Samira Rocha. The match was decided in this 15 minutes period between the 39th and 54th minutes by Brazil, 15 good minutes were enough to break the Angolan opposition. Angola came a bit closer in the last minutes of the game, but it didn’t count much regarding the outcome of the match. Brazil won 28-24.
Rio 2016 – Women’s Handball Tournament – Group A, 4th round
Angola – Brazil 24-28 (13-13)
Angola: N. Bernardo 8, A. Carlos 6, A. Kassoma 3, I. Guialo 3(1), J. Machado 1, W. Dombaxi 1, M. Cazanga 1, L. Venancio 1
Brazil: A.P. Rodrigues 7(2), D. Fachinello 4, S. Rocha 4(2), J. Quintino 4, A. do Nascimento 3(1), F. da Silva 2(1), E. Amorim 2, F. Diniz 1, D. Piedade 1
Penalties: 1/1 – 6/8
Suspensions: 10 minutes – 8 minutes
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