France stay golden, Croatia win bronze
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France retained their Olympic Men's Handball title by
beating Sweden while Croatia have won bronze in after a comfortable
victory over Hungary.
France have written
themselves into the history books after becoming the first country to
retain the Olympic title in men's handball following a nervy one-goal
victory in the final against Sweden.Les Bleus, who won gold in Beijing four years ago and are also reigning world champions, survived a late Scandinavian comeback to cement their place as the greatest team of all time.
The 22-21 win, which was soundtracked by constant raucous offerings of 'Allez Les Bleus' from an army of travelling France supporters, was built on a rigid and powerful defence while Michael Guigou was the hero at the other end, throwing in five goals.
For Sweden, while silver represents a success having no sizeable pre-tournament expectations, it was the fourth time they have taken second spot on the Olympic podium as their wait for an elusive gold medal continues.
It was just not their day today [Sunday] as they found life tough against the French defence, though six goals from Niklas Ekberg took him to 50 for the tournament as they pushed the champions all the way.
France came into the match with added confidence, having beaten Sweden 29-26 in their final Group A preliminary match at the Copper Box on Monday, but nothing could separate the two teams in a cagey opening.
Both sides traded efforts in the first 15 minutes as the scoreboard read 5-5, but after Sweden took the lead at 6-5, France laid down their marker as they scored five of the next six goals to take a 10-7 lead, with Guigo enjoying himself in front of goal with four strikes in an impressively brutal performance.
Sweden were able to reduce that deficit to 10-8 at half-time, meaning it was all to play for in the second half, but it could have been even better for them had France goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer not been in fine form, with a first-half save ratio of 43%.
France managed to keep Sweden at arm's length after the restart, as their defence was virtually immovable and they took advantage at the other end to maintain a three-goal cushion with 13 minutes of the second period gone.
Staffan Olsson's side rallied, though, and two quickfire goals meant they were trailing by just one with 15 minutes to play as a grandstand finish was on the cards.
But Les Bleus outlined their gold-medal credentials by responding with three of the next four goals to lead 19-16 as they had the top of the podium in sight and, as hard as Sweden tried to get back into the match, they just could not haul their opponents back.
The Scandinavians continued to battle and did manage to reduce their arrears to 22-21 through Kim Ekdahl du Rietz, but with just 15 seconds remaining and France in possession, it was all over.
Claude Onesta's side were uncontrollable in celebration of their achievement, while Sweden, initially crestfallen, left the court with their heads held high.
Croatia have won bronze in the men's handball after a comfortable victory over Hungary in the Basketball Arena.
Slavko Goluza's side, whose semi-final defeat to France denied them the opportunity to contest a record third gold medal, move up to joint top in the all-time list of medal winners with three alongside Russia, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.
They were just too strong for a tired-looking Hungary and led from the 12th minute, again inspired by the brilliance of Ivan Cupic, whose eight goals takes his tally for the tournament to 49.
For Hungary, the defeat means they have lost the bronze-medal match at the Games for a fourth time and never recovered from conceding six out of eight goals in the build up to half-time.
Both sides had to pick themselves up from demoralising semi-final exits as Hungary narrowly lost 27-26 to Sweden, while Croatia's quest for a landmark third gold ended with a 25-22 reverse to France.
It was an even start to the game as the two neighbouring countries traded goals in the opening 10 minutes, with the scoreboard reading 6-6.
But Croatia made their move, throwing in five of the next seven goals to take an 11-8 lead, and that got even better as seven goals in five minutes allowed them to take a 19-14 advantage into the half-time break.
The outstanding Ivan Cupic again found his range and his five first-half goals took him clear at the top of the goalscorers' chart, while Blazenko Lackovic threw in four as the Balkans dominated.
They were able to keep that five-goal lead intact after the restart as Cupic and Lazovic continued to dominate in attack, snuffing out any hopes of a Hungary comeback.
And Croatia extended their cushion in the final 10 minutes with a number of fast breaks to record a comfortable victory and secure their place on the podium.
Coach Goluza was happy to claim a medal after the disappointment of Friday's semi-final defeat to France.
"I feel like a winner," he said. "Any medal at the Olympics is good, it would have been nice to have a different one, but we are happy.
"The team showed that we are ready to fight for a medal and they have a certain desire to win."
Hungary's right-winger Gergely Harsanyi, who top scored with seven goals, insists fourth place was a credible finish for his side, despite missing out on bronze for the fourth time in nine Games.
"It was a really hard game," he said. "Croatia are a really good team, we played 30 minutes well and after that we tired. We have played eight games in 16 days.
"For the Hungary national team, fourth is a very good finish. We did everything for bronze, but we did not quite succeed.
"It has been a very good Olympic Games for me. This is the best championship I have played in my life."
