The 2023 World Handball Championship starts today and ends on the 29th, jointly hosted by Sweden and Poland. Part of Group D, Portugal will compete against Hungary, Iceland and South Korea at this stage, aiming to improve on the 10th place achieved in 2021.
By a quirk of the draw, the selections of Portugal, Hungary and Iceland meet again in the group stage a year after sharing the same round of Euro2022, a bad memory for the Portuguese. At the time, the national team was taken out of the main round (main stage) with defeats in the three games played.
Portugal opens its participation in the World Cup tomorrow, against Iceland, in Kristianstad, in a game that will be repeated for the fifth time in the last two years (out of a total of 12) and that registers a 2-2 draw, with two wins for any selection. Iceland, however, has the advantage in the all-out head-to-head showdown, as they won seven of their 12 games against Portugal – the last of which came 28-24 in the closing stages of Euro2022 -, while the Portuguese team triumphed in the remaining five.
Coach Paulo Pereira, who will miss the first two games due to suspension, aims to improve from 10th place in 2021, the best ranking in four editions (1997, 2001, 2003 and 2021). “From 9th place, we have already achieved our goal. But if we reach this goal, we will immediately set another goal, which means qualifying for the pre-Olympic tournament.” [para os Jogos Olímpicos de Paris]said the voter.
Paulo Pereira highlights the evolution registered in national handball, with the successive presence in the last stages of the most important events (Europe, World Cup and Olympic Games), and the thin line that separates success from failure, often by a goal. “Portugal are permanently in the big leagues and then we know that a goal here can miss the next stage or qualify for the pre-Olympic Games with a goal. [como aconteceu para Tóquio2020]”, he noted, recalling that the average age of the re-selection had dropped (to 26.6), “with its pros and cons” as “it shows some strengths and weaknesses compared to previous ones” .
Tomorrow’s opponents are Iceland, “a very strong team offensively”. “If we lose to Iceland, we have two options left to fight for qualification to the next stage and continue in the competition,” said Paulo Pereira, referring to the remaining matches in Group D, with South Korea (Saturday) and Hungary (16 of January).
The coach also recalled that Iceland “has players who compete in the most important world championships” and emphasized the balance in terms of recent results between both teams. “They know us well, because we have often played with them, but we also know them. In recent years there has been a balance. They have won three times and we have won twice,” said the coach.
South Korea, ranked 31st in the 2021 edition, is the second opponent in Group D, in a game scheduled for Saturday, but the coach warns of the dangers that the “theoretically more accessible” selections could pose.
“We always have to be very careful. South Korea is recovering from a less good phase and we have to be very careful,” said Paulo Pereira, recalling the Asians’ silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
eyes in denmark
The two-time champion Denmark will start the defense of the handball world title against Belgium on Friday. The current champions have as their main opponents the teams from Sweden (European champion and second world champion), Spain (European runner-up and bronze medalist at the 2021 World Cup and the Olympic Games in Tokyo) and Olympic champion France.
The national teams of Denmark, Sweden, Spain and France dominated the main competitions, recording the curiosity of being the only ones to climb the podiums, alternating positions, in the last World and European Championships and the Olympics.
The quartet of leading candidates also joins Norway, World Runner-up in 2019 and 2017 and Bronze Medalist in Euro2020 – in which Portugal finished in a historic sixth place – sharing Group F with North Macedonia, Argentina and the Netherlands.
Source: DN
