Coach: Paulo Pereira (Head National Coach), Nuno Santos (U19 National Coach)

 

Key Players: André Gomes (Left Back), Diogo Silva (Right Back)

 

Qualification information: Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2016 – 10th place

 

History in Tournament: 2005-2015: DNQ

 

Overview:

 

Portugal celebrated momentous success in 2016 when they ranked 10th at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO, as they booked their first ever participation at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship as a result.

 

The team led by coaching duo Paulo Pereira, who is head of the men’s national programme, and Nuno Santos, the Under 19 national coach, travel to Georgia with the goal of finishing as one of the top eight teams.

 

Portugal’s national teams have been working toward success for many years, with the senior team often just out of reach of a place at major international tournaments such as the IHF Men’s World Championship and the EHF EURO. Most recently, the senior side were on the brink of securing a berth at their first continental championship since 2006 after beating Switzerland and recording a draw against 25th IHF Men’s World Championship bronze medallists Slovenia in the qualification phase, but ultimately lost the place when they were defeated by Slovenia in the second of their encounters.

 

The Junior squad have experienced the greatest success, winning a bronze medal at the 1995 Junior World Championship. At the most recent Junior World Championship, in 2015, Portugal made it to the knock-out round where they lost the eighth-final to Sweden 30:33 in extra time.

 

The Youth team now hope to proceed one step further, with the goal of a top-eight rank representing at least a place in the quarter-finals. Portugal begin their Georgia 2017 campaign in preliminary Group C, where they will take on Croatia, Brazil, Korea, Argentina and Poland.

 

Croatia are the most formidable opponent for Portugal on paper, as they placed second at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2016. At the EURO, Portugal finished third in Group D behind Germany and Serbia, and therefore missed a place in the main round, but contested the intermediate round instead.

 

Portugal carried the points from their 43:29 victory against Poland in the preliminary round to the intermediate phase, where they added a win versus Sweden (32:27) and a draw against Czech Republic (27:27) to make their way to the 9-12 cross matches. Portugal beat Norway 33:30 in the first placement game, then lost to Sweden 29:31 to finish 10th.

 

Left back Andre Gomes finished the 18 EHF EURO third on the list of top scorers, with a tally of 54 placing him just behind Spain’s Ian Tarrafeta Serrano (58) and Michael Kusio (57). Gomes plays his club handball with ABC/UMinho, who won their maiden European trophy in the 2016/17 season, beating fellow Portuguese side S.L. Benfica in the two-leg Challenge Cup final. Gomes contributed 30 goals in the team’s Challenge Cup campaign.

 

Group at Georgia 2017:

Group C: Croatia, Portugal, Brazil, Korea, Argentina, Poland

 

Games at Georgia 2017:

All times local

 

Tuesday 8 August CRO-POR 10:00

Thursday 10 August POR-ARG 16:00

Friday 11 August POR-KOR 20:00

Sunday 13 August POL-POR 20:00

Monday 14 August BRA-POR 18:00

 

IHF Website & Social Media:

For a complete coverage of the 2017 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship stay tuned to our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels.