Day 12 : France and Spain draw 1-1

By Matthieu Boisseau
09/08/2012

Day 12 : France and Spain draw 1-1

No medals for France today, however a lot of various and sometimes conflicting emotions. The French handball team defeated Spain to reach the semifinals, but the basketball players  lost against the Spaniards.

Best of the day : French handball team

What a finish ! Incumbent Olympic champion France beat Spain with a last second goal for a 23-22 victory. Spain's impressive goalkeeper Arpad Sterbik Capar had saved almost everything in the first half but he could do nothing about William Accambray's dazzling shot on the final buzzer, which sent his teammates to the semi-final. But it was an extremely tough match for France as Claude Onesta’s gang endured 11 minutes without scoring in the first half. But they fought back against the 2008 Beijing bronze medallists thanks to the pro-French crowd.

Flop of the day : French basketball team

It is not really about the loss, which was expected, as Spain is one of the best teams in basketball (66-59). But the Frenchmen’s unsportsmanlike behaviour is quite shameful, as it tarnished Tony Parker’s lads’ great performance, and threatened to turn the match into a brawl. Players from both teams even had to be restrained by officials from going for each other. Before this disappointing conclusion, France had been competing well with Spain, but Pau Gasol and his teammates finally overcame the French defense in the final minute to reach the semifinals.

Number of the day : 5.

Mathieu Goubel was the favourite for the C1 final, as he had been easily dominating the previous races. But the final turned to be much harder, and the Frenchman could not do better than fifth place. He was virtually holding a bronze medal until the last 250 meters, but Canada’s Mark Oldershaw passed the Frenchman in the final to claim third place.

Today's highlights : Athletics. Christophe Lemaitre, 200m. Olympic stadium. Football. Women French football team. Wembley.