Reigning Olympic handball champions France blew a two-goal lead against Germany in just 13 seconds in the quarterfinals.
France led 29-27 in the final minute of the Olympic men’s handball quarter-finals against Germany, but miraculously lost their two-goal lead.
Germany scored the last two goals in the last 13 seconds of regular time. He excelled as the scorer of both complete hits Renars Uscins in time 59.47 and 60.00.
France head coach Guillaume Gille took a time allowance in 59.54, which should not have been taken.
Dika Mem lost the ball four seconds later, and in two seconds Germany scored the equalizer to make it 29-29.
In overtime, Germany’s number one hero Uscins scored the winning goal 35-34 four seconds before the decision, in 69:56.
At the last second, France Valentin Portella there was still a good spot for a draw, but he failed on the top plot.
The other quarterfinals also experienced a thriller-like ending. Spain and Egypt ended at 25-25 in overtime, where Spain, who had lost most of the match, finally took the semi-final place with 29-28 goals.
Denmark also beat Sweden by a one-goal margin, 32–31. Simon Pytlick scored nine goals for the winners, was Sweden’s top scorer Felix Claar with seven successes.
In the last quarter-final of the evening, Norway and Slovenia will meet. In Friday’s semi-finals, Germany will face Spain, and Denmark will receive the winner of the evening’s late game.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, France took the men’s Olympic gold in handball ahead of Denmark and Spain.