The International Handball Federation is offering free live streaming of all 3 Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments this Fri-Sat. The top 2 finishers in each tournament will qualify for the 2008 Olympics.
Link to matches: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcatart=1435
Note: Make sure you double check your calculations in figuring out what time each match will be played in your time zone. Local times are listed first, US East Coast is in parentheses. If the service is like the Women’s tournaments you will need to watch the games live as no tape delay was offered. Still, the time change isn’t too bad for North America and if your office hasn’t fire walled out video you should be able to enjoy lunch and live handball at your desk on Friday.
[b]Tournament 1 (Wroclaw, Poland) [/b]
Friday, 30 May
18:00 ISL – ARG (12:00)
20:15 POL – SWE (14:15)
Saturday, 31 May
18:00 SWE – ARG (12:00)
20:15 POL – ISL (14:15)
Sunday, 1 June
18:15 SWE – ISL (12:15) ** (projected battle for 2nd place)
20:30 ARG – POL (14:30)
[b]Analysis: [/b]Host Poland is the big favorite here, but will do well to beat a resurgent Sweden in their first match. Assuming Poland wins out it will set up a huge Nordic Country show down on Sunday. Sweden beat Iceland 24-19 in January at the European Championships and will be favored to do so again. The Swedes, however, will be wary as they remember Iceland beating them in Sweden 32-28 in June 2006 as part of 2007 World Championship qualification. Sweden was able to win the 2nd match in Iceland. As they only won by 1 goal, though, Iceland won the 2 game aggregate and kept Sweden from participating in the 2007 World Championships.
[b]Tournament 2 (Paris, France) [/b]
Friday, 30 May
19:30 FRA – TUN (13:30)
21:30 ESP – NOR (15:30)
Saturday, 31 May
17:00 FRA – ESP (11:00)
19:30 TUN – NOR (13:30)
Sunday, 1 June
14:30 TUN – ESP (8:30)
16:30 NOR – FRA (10:30)
[b]Analysis:[/b] France and Spain are the big favorites here, but don’t discount a potential Tunisian surprise. Many of their top players play professionally in France and there is a significant Tunisian population living in the country. Tunisia has also played in the Bercy tournament several times as well, so they will be very comfortable playing in that arena. Sunday’s, Tunisia – Spain match up could very well be for 2nd place. If Tunisia hangs tough at the start of the match, the crowd will get behind them and it will look and sound like the match is being played in Tunis, not Paris.
[b]Tournament 3 (Zadar, Croatia) [/b]
Friday, 30 May
15.30 RUS – ALG (09:30)
17.30 CRO – JPN (11:30)
Saturday, 31 May
15.30 JPN – ALG (09:30)
17.30 CRO – RUS (11:30)
Sunday, 1 June
15.30 JPN – RUS (09:30)
17:30 CRO – ALG (11:30)
[b]Analysis: [/b] Go ahead and pencil in Russia and Croatia to qualify. Heck, you don't need to use a pencil- use a pen. It would be an epic upset if either Algeria or Japan were able to knock off those two sides.