The German opponent in the quarter-finals of the handball World Cup experienced a tragic story. But the mourning for an idol still gives Portugal strength, Alfredo Quintana is still present in every game of Paulo Pereira’s team.
The Portuguese will think of their goalkeeper legend again on Wednesday (8:30 p.m., from 8:15 p.m. in the first and in the first and at Sportschau.de in the live ticker). To the man who led her with exceptional performance from the sporting sinking to the extended world tip – and who died on February 21, 2021 at the age of 32 after a heart attack in training at FC Porto.
“AQ” on the forearm of the sporty pull son
To have Quintana in mind, Francisco Costa only has to look at his left forearm. There he tattooed the initials of his great mentor, who was not only a kind of father figure for him in handball. “Kiko” Costa was 16 years old for five days when Quintana died.
Shortly after the collapse of the goalkeeper, the jewel of Portuguese handball on Instagram had posted a photo of himself as a child next to Quintana and wrote: “From an early age you have always been there for me. Now you should know that I’m there for you. Stay strong, King!”
Francisco Costa also reported that Quintana told him very early: “Kiko, you will be a very big champion.” In this way he is now clear, and the basement has also laid the basics.
Sensational turn against France
Just three weeks after the tragic death, the Portuguese national team had a game that immortalized itself in the handball history books of this nation. Just as the game of the Germans will immortalize against France in the 2024 Olympic quarterfinals in 2024. For Portugal, too, on March 14, 2021, France was called France, and similar to the DHB team last summer in Lille, Portugal was basically beaten-it was about the Olympic qualification.
In the meantime, exactly as with the Germans, the French pulled away to five goals, shortly before the end of the game the Équipe was still 28:25 at the front. But somehow Portugal was still turning the thing, and two seconds before the end they scored the 29:28 win in an epic thriller. With this, Portugal passed Croatia in a three -man comparison and sensationally celebrated participation in Tokyo.
“All of his presence felt”
National coach Pereira explained very emotional at the time: “We didn’t do it alone. I would like to thank Alfredo for everything he did for us and this success.” Also the left back area Fabio Magalhaes, such as Quintana at FC Porto and now on Wednesday against Germany, said: “We all felt his presence.”
Since then, Porto and Portugal have not forgiven the “1” that Quintana wore on the jersey. At this World Cup, Gustavo Capdeville has number 41 and Diogo Marques at the national team. On average, they defused every third throw on their goal, a little more game shares and parades have Capdeville.
Praise Gislason and Kastening Goalkeeper performance
National coach Alfred Gislason says: “In the meantime, they also have a goalkeeper performance that they lacked for a long time after their death.” Timo Kastening also responds to the Sportschau question about the strengths of the Portuguese alongside the two protagonists Francisco and Martim Costa: “There is a lot to consider. In the goal, too, they are now very well staffed from the back then.” At least Alfredo Quintana’s sporty legacy seems to be in good hands.