Eduarda “Duda” Amorim and Brazil are Overwhelming Favorites to Take Gold

The 2019 Pan American (PANAM) Games officially open on Friday, 26 July, but the Women’s Team Handball competition will get started two days earlier.  Here’s some key information about the tournament and the nations that will be competing.

What’s at Stake:  The tournament winner will automatically qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.  The runner up will be guaranteed a spot in an Olympic qualification tournament to be played in spring 2020.  Additionally, there’s a possibility that 3^rd place will also get a ticket to an Olympic Qualification slot, but that won’t be known until after 2019 World Championships in December.

The Format:  The eight nations that qualified for the competition have been split into two groups of four.  Each group will play a round robin.  The top two nations from each group will then advance to the semifinals and the bottom two nations will advance to the consolations semis.  The winners of the semifinals will play for gold while the semifinal losers will play for bronze.

Schedule:

Wednesday, 24 July        Group Play
Thursday, 25 July              Group Play
Friday, 26 July                    <PANAM Games Opening Ceremonies>
Saturday, 27 July              Group Play
Sunday, 28 July                 <Rest Day>
Monday, 29 July               Semifinals
Tuesday, 30 July               Placement Matches

Details: Link
(Note: Lima, Peru is 1 hour behind US ET)

Where to Watch:  The Pan American Sports Organization has a new online channel, but it is not clear which matches will be broadcast.  An earlier notice indicated that handball matches would not be broadcast until the Women’s Semifinals.  In the U.S., ESPN owns the rights to all PANAM Games content and has signaled that they will show content on ESPN Deportes and their OTT platform, ESPN+.  Again, it is not clear if and when handball will be shown. (Check back here on on the Team Handball News Facebook or Twitter pages for updates)

PANAM Sports Channel: Link

Team Profiles (Group A)

Brazil
How qualified: 1^st place at South American Games
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: 1^st
– 2015 Pan American Games: 1^st
– 2017 Pan American Championship: 1^st
– 2018 South and Central American Championship: 1^st
Key Player:  Left back, Eduarda “Duda” Amorim is considered one of the best players in the world.
Outlook:  To say that the Brazilian Women have dominated Pan American handball competitions is almost an understatement.  In multiple Pan American competitions over the past 10 years they are undefeated.  They are hands down the favorite to win the tournament.

Puerto Rico
How qualified: 2^nd place at Central American and Caribbean Games
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: 4^th
– 2015 Pan American Games: 6^th
– 2017 Pan American Championship: 6^th
– 2019 North American and Caribbean Championship: 2^nd
Key Player:  Backcourt, Nathalys Ceballos, has been their primary offensive weapon.
Outlook:  Puerto Rico came within 3 goals of qualifying for the 2019 World Championships, losing to Cuba 27-24.  They’ll seek to avenge that defeat in Group Play in what will be a likely show down for 2^nd place in the Group.

Cuba
How qualified: 3rd place at Central American and Caribbean Games
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: 2nd
– 2015 Pan American Games: 5th
– 2017 Pan American Championship: Did not participate
– 2019 North American and Caribbean Championship: 1^st
Key Player:  Left Back Lizandra Lusson has been Cuba’s top scorer for the last several years.  She was the top scorer at the 2015 PANAM Games and led her nation in scoring at the 2015 World Championships.
Outlook:  Cuba’s up and down performance can be directly correlated to whether their top European based players show up or not.  If they do, Cuba may well have the 2^nd best team at the tournament.

Canada
How qualified: 1^st place at 2^nd Chance Qualification Tournament
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: 10^th
– 2015 Pan American Games: 7th
– 2017 Pan American Championship: Did not participate
– 2019 North American and Caribbean Championship: 7^th
Outlook:  The Canadian women were soundly defeated by the U.S. in the North American qualifier, but bounced back to win the 2^nd chance tournament.  They are a younger side and will be looking to improve upon their disappointing performance earlier this year at the North American Championship

Team Profiles (Group B)

Argentina
How qualified: 2^nd place at South American Games
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: 3^rd
– 2015 Pan American Games: 2^nd
– 2017 Pan American Championship: 2^nd
– 2018 South and Central American Championship: 2^nd
Key Player:  Right Back, Luciano Mendoza, has been Argentina’s leading scorer for the past several years and Elke Karsten is an up and coming player who recently was signed by Hungarian club, Debrecen
Outlook:  The Argentine Women have been the perennial bridesmaid to Brazil in just about every Pan American competition for the past 20 years.  They are favorites to win Group B and if they do that could mean a semifinal match vs Cuba.

USA
How qualified: Beat Canada in North American Qualification Series
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: 10^th
– 2015 Pan American Games: Did not qualify
– 2017 Pan American Championship: 5^th
– 2019 North American and Caribbean Championship: 5^th
Key Players:  Center back, Jence Rhoads, is the conductor of the U.S. attack.  Left back, Nicole Andersen is the top scoring threat.
Outlook:  The USA Women failed to qualify for the 2015 PANAM Games and following that disappointment they set their sights on returning in 2019.  Mission accomplished, but they would like to do more than just compete and are focused on a semifinal berth.  The U.S. Women will be under dogs to Argentina, but a strong defensive performance coupled with a consistent offensive attack could provide a surprise.  Barring an upset there they will need to beat the Dominican Republic to reach the semifinals.

Dominican Republic
How qualified: 1^st place at Central American and Caribbean Games
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: Did not participate
– 2015 Pan American Games: Did not qualify
– 2017 Pan American Championship: 8^th
– 2019 North American and Caribbean Championship: 4^th
Key Players:  Wings, Nancy Pena and Yojaver Brito have done the bulk of the scoring for the Dominican Republic in their recent competitions.
Outlook:  In 2014 the Dominican Republic was banned from Pan American competition for having played over-age players at the Women’s Youth Championship that they hosted back in 2010.  Their program is on the rebound as evidenced by the title win at the Central American and Caribbean Games.  A potential show down with the U.S. for 2^nd place looms Thursday.

Peru
How qualified: Host Nation
Recent Pan American Results:
– 2015 Pan American Championship: Did not participate
– 2015 Pan American Games: Did not participate
– 2017 Pan American Championship: Did not participate
– 2018 South and Central American Championship: Did not participate
Key Players:  Unknown
Outlook:  Peru qualified as host nation and until recently does not appear to have even had a women’s national team.  At the 2018 South American Games they lost by an average of 37 goals to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.  This lack of experience will be hard to overcome so playing competitive matches and perhaps winning a match in consolation play is about the best outcome that could be expected

Center back Ian Hueter on attack vs Canada

The U.S. has a 12 goal lead from the 1^st leg and it’s really hard to envision Canada turning things around to the point of pasting an even bigger loss on the U.S. in the 2^nd leg.  While, it’s true that anything can happen, the odds of something like that happening are really remote.  But, the Canadians are a tenacious team and play with a lot of pride.  Can they turn things around and beat a vastly improved USA Team in front of a sold out crowd?  With the huitième homme (eighth man) behind them?  Absolutely, they can.  (Just not by 13 goals)

To get a win, Canada, will need to play a full 60 minutes at the intensity level they played the first 50 minutes in Auburn.  They will also need to do a better job at capitalizing on any scoring opportunities provided them.  Most notably, they will need to make sure that they punish the U.S. when they go up a man as a result of two minute penalties.  (This means score a goal or two and deny the U.S)  On defense, they’ve now seen the athleticism and 1 on 1 skills of Fofana, Hueter and Hines.  They know what they are up against and that it will take a team defensive effort to slow them down.  A big challenge, but one they can meet.

For the U.S. Men, this is an opportunity to make a statement.  To show themselves, and anyone watching, that the 12 goal win at Auburn was not a fluke.  That they can get the same sort of convincing win in a more hostile environment.  To do so they will need to play with poise and determination.  They will need to cut down on mistakes at both ends of the floor.  In particular, on defense, they will need to keep the aggressive intensity, but channel that aggressiveness to meet the offensive attack before it’s too late and results in sitting out for 2 minutes, too often.

While, there may not be PANAM Qualification on the line, this game should still be well worth watching.  Can Canada get a little revenge with a win at home?  Or, will the new look U.S. Men impress again?  Show that Chile and Cuba have another team in this hemisphere at their level?  Or, dare I say it:  Have Brazil and Argentina looking over their shoulder in the run up to the PANAM Game next summer?

Match Schedule

Wednesday, 5 September

Canada vs USA (Women) 1900 Eastern Time (0100 CET, Thursday)
Canada vs USA (Men) 2100 Eastern Time (0300 CET, Thursday). 

The match will be live streamed on the Quebec Handball Federation Facebook page:  Link