Europeans come back strongly in final quarter for victory despite best efforts of Boughanmi

FYRO Macedonia vs Tunisia 34:30 (13:14)

Handball is a game of two halves, although FYRO Macedonia showed it is a game of four quarters and a full 60 minutes in their opening game of the 2017 IHF Men’s World Championship in France as an impressive final 15 minutes saw them come from behind to beat Tunisia in Metz.

The focus before the game for Tunisia may have been on FC Barcelona left-back Wael Jallouz and how the Macedonians could stop him, but their left-winger Oussama Boughanmi (nine goals in total) showed why he is one of the most exciting talents in north Africa as his creative play and ruthlessness in front of goal helped the Tunisians to a first-half lead.

Even though they can boast their own global handball superstar in their ranks – Kiril Lazarov is a teammate of Jallouz’s at FC Barcelona – the Macedonians concentrated on nullifying Jallouz, man-marking him mainly through right-wing Goce Georgievski and it worked as the 25-year-old did not find the net until after nine minutes were on the clock as his strike put the Tunisians up for the first time in the contest (3:2).

As the first-half progressed FYRO Macedonia coach Lino Cervar started deploying the extra player in attack and his side were lucky to be ahead at 7:6 (14th minute) after the big Tunisian pivot, Issam Tej missed an open goal on a full-court shot.

The next 15 minutes continued in the same vein as the sides were never more than two apart, with Tunisia catching up, and overtaking their opponents in the final few minutes of the half thanks to double strikes from Tej and Boughanmi. Boughanmi’s strike off a rebound to make it 14:13 just before the half-time buzzer ensured a lead at the break, but it should have been more had Oussama Hosni shown more confidence with a full-court shot but the young centre back was stuck between passing and shooting and he threw straight off of the court.

The Tunisians came out in the second half and continued to exploit the extra court player they enjoyed when the Macedonians took their goalkeeper off in attack – highlighted particularly when Jallouz scored to make it 17:14 after somehow scoring a full-court goal despite being on the floor nearly.

But the last 15 minutes saw a European turnaround. Undone by a two-minute suspension to Amen Toumi in the 44th minute, Tunisia began to look vulnerable and the Macedonians exploited this fully.

Hafedh Zouabi’s side were not helped by their total of 10 turnovers in the match as the Macedonians not only scored with consistency in the final 15 minutes, but goalkeeper Blagojche Trakjkovski pulled off a number of saves in the closing moments to ensure that Tunisia could not find a way back – the Tunisians could only score three times in the last 10 minutes.

Lazarov brought the scores levels again at 28:28 in the 52nd minute, the first of a 5:0 run which saw the Macedonians decide the game with just four minutes left (32:28).

Best Player of the Match presented by Adidas: Kiril LAZAROV (MKD)