At the recent Men’s Youth Handball Championships (under 19) in Bahrain, Argentina and Brazil demonstrated that these nations have closed the gap traditionally separating the rest of the world from Europe. Argentina placed 4th in the tournament with 3 wins, 2 ties and 2 losses. They didn’t do so well in the medal round, but their two ties against Croatia and Poland in pool play could very well have ended up as wins .
Brazil also had a good tournament. They didn’t make it out of their initial pool losing to the hosts Bahrain and the eventual champion Denmark 25-22, but they dominated the lower bracket with 3 straight wins to finish 9th.
Not to be forgotten Egypt also had a strong tournament, finishing 5th and Bahrain, probably benefiting from hosting the tournament placed 8th.
What will be interesting to see is whether Brazil and Argentina can continue to develop this young talent at the same pace as the Europeans. Time will tell as to whether in a few years from now their Senior Teams can also make it through to the main round at a Senior Men World Championships.
Results Summary: http://wch07live.ihf.info/exchange/bahrain/pdf/SUMMARY.pdf
IHF Home Page for the Youth World Championships: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idart=768