Team USA poses for a celebration photo after their 14 goal victory over Guatemala

Team USA easily defeated Guatemala 38-24 in the third and final match of the 2nd Chance tournament in Guatemala City, Sunday night.  Due to the USA-Uruguay, 23-23 draw the night before the USA needed to win by at least 8 goals to pull ahead of Uruguay on goal differential and first place in the tournament.

The win now means that the USA has qualified for the PANAM Games this October in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Eight nations (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada and USA) will vie for the 1 Pan American Olympic qualification spot for the 2012 Olympics in London.  Argentina and Brazil are the prohibitive favorites, but Team USA should compete for a  semifinal spot as the 6 teams below those two sides are more evenly matched.

Final Standings
1) USA 1-1-0 3 Pts 61 47 +14
2) Uruguay 1-1-0 3 Pts 43 35 +8
3) Guatemala 0-0-2 0 Pts 36 58 -22

USA Federation write-up: http://usateamhandball.org/news/2011/06/06/usa-men-qualify-for-pan-american-games-for-first-time-since-2003/42652