Portugal and Germany delivered an epic battle in the final quarterfinal of the Handball World Cup, as Paulo Pereira’s team pulled off a huge upset to secure their first semifinal in history after a dramatic 31-30 win, in extra-time.
However, had it not been for Germanys excellent keeper, Andreas Wolff, who saved four of the first five shots he faced, things would have been decided much sooner in Portuguese favour.
The German favourites turned the ball over eight times, converted only 50% of their shots in a disappointing first half from Alfred Gislasons men where Juri Knorr was back in action after nursing a virus which prevented the German playmaker to take part in the previous matches.
Portugal led 13-9 at the break but magic reflexes between the posts from Wolff allowed the Germans to catch up and even take a two-goal lead, 20-18 with seven minutes left on the clock.
When they seemed down and out, Portugal launched an amazing comeback and forced the game into extra-time as Germany could not score with their last attack, never even shooting.
Martim Costa scored three times in the extra 10 minutes of the match, including the decisive goal, which came with just three seconds left on the clock, while Francisco Costa had one more goal, to lift Portugal to an unlikely triumph in an epic drama which will be remembered for a long time.