Although Russian women's handball team outclassed Brazil 28-19 at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Wednesday, Russian coach Evgeny Trefilov still complained that women are mysterious.
As the reigning world champion, Russia encountered great pressure from Brazil, 14th placer in the 2007 World Championship. Both teams went shoulder to shoulder through the first half and Russia just could not extend the lead up to three goals.
"Brazil has made great progress in the past years, and they can find their place among the world top ten teams now. But still,we should have played better in the first half," said Trefilov after the match.
When the game resumed after the break, Russia finally found their rhythm. Center back Irina Poltoratskaya scored five goals,helping the team to surge a 16-9 run in the second half.
When asked why Russia appeared like a different team in the second half, Trefilov raised another question instead of giving the answer. "Don't you know women are mysterious? I have fourteen women in my squad and their performance is always unpredictable."
It is true. The Russian handball team is unpredictable. Winning three world titles in 2001, 2005 and 2007, they never managed to book a ticket in the Olympic Games, with Beijing Games being their Olympic debut.
However, Russia's Olympic journey in Beijing was also featured with inconsistency in performance.
In their opening game against South Korea, Russia enjoyed a comfortable nine points lead midway in the second half. But the world titlist suffered a nightmare in the final quarter of the game, with all the advantage nibbled and both sides tied 29-29 in the end.
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)