WCh 2019 - Germany & Denmark

[mikh]

Besides the Euro, 2 other interesting competitions started this week: the Asian Championship in Korea and the African Championship in Gabon. Both of them are qualifying criteria for the next WCh for the respective continents. If any of you is curious of watching, here are the links where you could try to do so:

Asia: http://teamhandballnews.com/wordpress/2 ... -and-cons/ (Australia and New Zealand are both playing at this one )
Africa: http://livetv.sx/enx/competitions/2033/ ... _20180128/

Enjoy!

[mikh]

As for Europe, the first qualification round finished late last week as you can see over here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Worl ... lification

In summary:
Group 1: Russia easily won it with 6 straight wins; Slovakia drew against Luxembourg in their last match, but it had no impac on the ranking, nor the qualification process;

Group 2: Lithuania scraped a +2 win on home court, in the decisive match against Latvia;

Group 3: crazy tournament in Bolzano, with the hosts Italy winning against Ukraine in day 2; in the last round, Ukraine needed to win +6 against Romania, they lead +5 at some point, then Romania turned the match around and it all finished with a draw, which allows Romania to progress to the playoff;

Group 4: Poland bizzarely accepted to play a tournament on Portugal's court and after the first 2 days both team recorded easy wins with Kosovo and Cyprus, with Portugal having a 1 goal better difference. The decisive match was an absolute thriller with Portugal leading +2 for most of the first half, then Poland turning things around and leading +2, missing a +3 attack, before Portugal turned everything around in the last 10 minutes, lead +2, saw itself equalised and ran the clock down in the last attack, leaving Poland with just a desperate last shot. It's also worth noting that Syprzak missed a crucial penalty in the last 3 mins. The draw qualified Portugal for the play offs, in what probably was the biggest upset of this qualification phase. So weird to see Poland go from #4 in the Rio games just 18 months ago to not even making the playoffs.

Group 5: Balanced affair between Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands, which in the end saw the latter finish on top with a decisive win at home against neighbours Belgium;

Group 6: Switzerland threw away a theoretical advantage after a double win over Estonia by losing twice to eventual group winners Bosnia Hercegovina.

The 6 teams in bold, together with Montenegro and Austria will be unseeded in the play-off draw which will take place during the final weekend of the Euro in Zagreb.

[Synchrony]

Wait, Syprzak was the one who shot the penalty?

[mikh]

Wait, Syprzak was the one who shot the penalty?

Yup, that was my reaction too when watching the match. It was just after the Polish fell from 24:22 to 24:26 and they were trying to get back in it. Syprzak hit the post when the score was 24:25. In fact, the Portuguese keepers were nothing special and I can't remember them making ANY save in the second half, but Poland just did a tremendous amount of turnovers (once they even gave the ball to a Portuguese player straight from throw off because they were not paying attention) and had many shots that just missed the target. Their overall performance was dismal, but even so I still thought they would edge through.
The Portuguese guys played with a lot of heart and once they had their tiny chance at the end of the match, they just took it.

[Bo$ko]

I think Hungary is in pot 2 also, as there will be 9 pairs for playoffs?

FRA, GER, DEN are already qualified + 1 more team to qualify directly,
8 out of 9 remaining teams from Main Round (SWE, CRO, SRB, NOR, BLR, MKD, SLO, ESP, CZE) + Iceland go to seeded pot,
while HUN, AUT, MNE + 6 teams from Qual.Round 1 go to unseeded pot!

[mikh]

I think Hungary is in pot 2 also, as there will be 9 pairs for playoffs?

Nope, this time there will be only 8 pairs in the playoffs, because of the double host.

Europe already has Denmark, Germany and France automatically qualified. The 3 next teams in the Euro will also get their tickets straight.
Which leaves us with 10 Euro teams + 6 teams from the qualification round.

[Bo$ko]

The 3 next teams in the Euro will also get their tickets straight.

Wrong, only the best team!

As defending champions, France, as well as Germany and Denmark as hosts, are already qualified. They will be joined by the champion of the Men's EHF EURO 2018 or the respective best-ranked team in case France, Germany or Denmark win gold.

[matt_]

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and South Korea qualified to next year tournament by making it to semifinals of Asian Championship.

Congratulations to them! It's a pity Japan didn't manage to qualify, but they are still minnows in men's handball, much water in Japanese Sea have to pass, until they will be comparable to women's team.

[mikh]

Tunisia also won the African Championship, after failing in the previous 2 finals.
Gabon missed a great chance to reach the WCh after playing the tournament at home, winning a crucial match against Algeria in the group stage, but losing in the extra time of their QF with Morocco.

Tunisia, Egypt and Angola are qualified for the WCh.

More details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Afri ... ampionship

[mikh]

Congratulations to them! It's a pity Japan didn't manage to qualify, but they are still minnows in men's handball, much water in Japanese Sea have to pass, until they will be comparable to women's team.

Yeah, I was hoping they would play better, especially since Dagur Sigurdsson took over the team. But maybe his is a longer term plan with the team. I still expect them to deliver for Tokyo 2020.
At the same time, Gudmundur Gudmundson seems to be doing a bit better with Bahrain. They played a solid tournament and gave Qatar a good run for their money in the final.

As a side note, New Zealand finished last, whereas Australia recorded 2 wins to finish 11th. It's good these two get more regular competition now, but there's a long way ahead and I am not sure about the plans local federations are having to support the growth of handball over there.

[mikh]

For completeness, I will post the European play-off pairings here as well.
Thank you @Bo$ko for correcting me in an earlier post. You were right, there are 9 such pairings:

Serbia - Portugal
Lithuania - Iceland
Czech R. - Russia
Slovenia - Hungary
Belarus - Austria
Macedonia - Romania
Netherlands - Sweden
Norway - Bosnia and Herzegovina OR Switzerland (there is a pending disciplinary procedure opened against Bosnia)
Croatia - Montenegro

And of course there is an additional wild card, which will probably go to one of the European traditional teams that fail in the play off.

What are your thoughts about the play-offs? Czechia - Russia and especially Slovenia - Hungary seem like really tough encounters, but maybe the loser of one of these matches will get that wild card.

[Synchrony]

Czechia - Russia and Slovenia - Hungary are going to be tough, no doubt. I think that Serbia - Portugal and Macedonia - Romania are also going to deliver in terms of uncertainty. Both games can go either way.

[mikh]

I wonder what is the reason for which ehftv shows ZERO matches from these qualification playoffs.

[mikh]

Some close encounters in the third 3 matches. A bit expected I would say, but the returns should be straight affairs.
I am surprised by Hungary's consistent win in Slovenia. How was that match? I suppose there were a lot of nerves.

[vlad_impaler]

Unfortunately Romania has many missing players, including best player and left back Alexandru Simicu. I hope we don't lose by 5-6 or worse since Lazarov is back for Macedonia!

Btw, congrat Hungary especially and Netherlands!

[vlad_impaler]

Slovenia is missing players?

[Scheersberg]

I expect that Hungary, Croatia and Norway will not have much problems qualifying. Iceland and I expect Russia will also qualify, Russia had a 12-17 lead HT.
Big surprise Holland beating Sweden, silver medallists at the latest EHF EURO. Sweden has to put it very mild some history in Handball, Dutch men not. Holland qualified only one time for EC/WC in ... 1961 WC, also in Germany.

Holland has some players with a long or short Bundesliga-Germany history, but beating Sweden came clearly unexpected. Great performance of GK Gerie Eijlers 38 years old who has also a long Bundesliga (Magdeburg) history.
Holland was most of the time in the lead by 1-2 goals, they played strucutered and dsiciplined and in the end it was 25-24. Sad that in a arena with a 2.500 capacity only 900 spectators showed up. When Dutch women play a home match the game is sold out even in a 4.000-5.000 arena in a few hours.
Although the comparison is not fair, Dutch women have a fan base, women like Wester, Polman, Abbingh and Groot have some popularity.
This is contrast with Dutch men handball players.

One can expect that Sweden will qualify, but this was a historical win and gives some hope for the future.

[mikh]

I was actually expecting Netherlands to win this one. They played consistently well at home against better opposition. Remember that in the previous qualis, they almost beat Hungary at home and pushed Denmark (albeit without Hansen and Landin) for a very tight match.

It's strange because I was talking to other Dutch and they didn't seem as optimistic as me about the prospect of getting a good result at home.

Holland was most of the time in the lead by 1-2 goals, they played strucutered and dsiciplined and in the end it was 25-24. Sad that in a arena with a 2.500 capacity only 900 spectators showed up. When Dutch women play a home match the game is sold out even in a 4.000-5.000 arena in a few hours.

Haha! And about 20 of them were a bunch of expats (who I personally know) - including an Aussie - from a handball club in Amsterdam who made the trip to s'Hertgenbosch

Although the comparison is not fair, Dutch women have a fan base, women like Wester, Polman, Abbingh and Groot have some popularity.
This is contrast with Dutch men handball players.

One can expect that Sweden will qualify, but this was a historical win and gives some hope for the future.

Simply the fact that they have a plethora of players in the Bundesliga and the investment in a good coach from Iceland means things will evolve in the future and that there is now a genuine interest to develop men handball over there. 3-4 years ago you had a good generation at the U20 WCh and you are sending more and more youth to Germany. Give it some time. It takes more to get your break in men's handball, than in women's.

About the fan base, they will first need some sort of breakthrough for it to form. The ladies team also played decades in front of half-empty halls before their initial success 4-5 years ago.

About the return match, I think we are safe to assume Sweden will win easily. They are formidable at home and they will make their experience count.

[Derp]

I expect the Czechs will qualify against Russia.

[Scheersberg]

I was actually expecting Netherlands to win this one. They played consistently well at home against better opposition. Remember that in the previous qualis, they almost beat Hungary at home and pushed Denmark (albeit without Hansen and Landin) for a very tight match.

It's strange because I was talking to other Dutch and they didn't seem as optimistic as me about the prospect of getting a good result at home.

That 's all true, but I also expected Holland to lose with a big margin ... .

Simply the fact that they have a plethora of players in the Bundesliga and the investment in a good coach from Iceland means things will evolve in the future and that there is now a genuine interest to develop men handball over there. 3-4 years ago you had a good generation at the U20 WCh and you are sending more and more youth to Germany. Give it some time. It takes more to get your break in men's handball, than in women's.

Again all true . Yes we can be happy with the coach from Iceland and for sure there is some potential. U21 WC, 2013 #5, young players at the handball academy and indeed some good and young players in Germany but also some in French and Kay Smits will play in Denmark next season.

About the fan base, they will first need some sort of breakthrough for it to form. The ladies team also played decades in front of half-empty halls before their initial success 4-5 years ago.

About the return match, I think we are safe to assume Sweden will win easily. They are formidable at home and they will make their experience count.

Yes for Dutch women the real break through came recently, although the process already started in 1999, WC 20005 #5. Also handball in Holland seems to be much more popular under young girls than boys, but that can change.
The biggest problem or you could say challenge is the lack of Handball tradition and culture in Holland. That also implies very limited financial resources.
What is also important is that more kids play handball, there you see that the Dutch Hnadball Federation shows now an increase in members, not much but this fact alone that 's positive, but with only 52.000 members NHV is not that big.

I am sure that if I would bet Holland will win for one € I would receive more than 100€, maybe I will do so!

[vlad_impaler]

This Slovenia was totally changed, with injuries and not called up players.

[Scheersberg]

The Sunday WC 2019 PO results:

- Belarus vs Austria 28:28 (15:15)
- Serbia vs Portugal 28:21 (14:10)
- Macedonia vs Romania 32:24 (15:10)

[aletem]

Well done lovely Macedonians!!! But shame on you, should've been double digits... Anyway, thankfully Gatelis and Mazeika won't be the refs again and giving stupid balls to the Romanians in the return leg. Hoping we can beat them away with 8 goals too.
And Kire is amazing! He doesn't age!

[vlad_impaler]

Fire Xavi Pascual! Romania even without Simicu (France) and Fenici, best player and best Romanian player of the national league (regular playmaker) has better 9-m line than Macedonia, with Racotea (Veszprem since 2019), Ramba (ex-Bundesliga, a guy that was destroying Magdeburg alone, 10 goals per half), Csepreghi (France), Grigoras (Hungary top 3) and Sadoveac (France). Plus we have Popescu, one of the best goalkeepers in France, Ghionea (Wisla Plock) etc

This is such a disgrace! Macedonia acting big like a team, plus has experience, Romania acting like they are taken from the streets.

k**f off, Alex Dedu, we should have these world class coaches but only training the national team! Not just also clubs, this is the problem. We have many players now who play or played in France/Germany and their display is miserable.

[vlad_impaler]

Well done lovely Macedonians!!! But shame on you, should've been double digits... Anyway, thankfully Gatelis and Mazeika won't be the refs again and giving stupid balls to the Romanians in the return leg. Hoping we can beat them away with 8 goals too.
And Kire is amazing! He doesn't age!

In the Balkans you are pathetic, in fact the two Lithuanian crooks helped you big by giving you at least 30%. EHF should take a look, is there any handball in Lithuania?

The fans in Macedonia are only whistleling lik 25 years ago plus they are not satisfied with anything.