EHFtv.com is offering a free webcast of a World Championship warm-up match between Spain and Germany on Sunday, 11 January. The match start at 1900 hours in Spain or 1300 (U.S. Eastern Time Zone)

EHF Announcement: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12020
EHFtv: www.ehftv.com

This weekend ehfTV is expanding its viewing options to include the airing of National team matches. Nothing is at stake in the friendly matches between Germany and Iceland and both coaches will be experimenting with new combinations of players. The airing of National team matches is a welcome addition, though, and it will be interesting to see if key qualification matches (where a lot is at stake) are aired in the future.

Saturday, 28 November
Germany vs. Iceland 1445 Central European Time (CET)

Sunday, 29 November
Germany vs. Iceland 1500 (CET)

CET is 6 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast

ehfTV: www.ehftv.com

Also, if you want to watch a game with audio commentary check out the Montpellier – Leon match from a couple of weeks ago:
https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.631

For your listening enjoyment download the full length audio commentary of yesterday’s match between Montpellier and Leon. Then synch up the audio on your MP3 player with the ehfTV video.

Spoiler alert: Make sure you put a piece of paper over the top portion of your monitor as some genius on the ehfTV staff chose a screen shot with a near final score in the top right hand corner. If you click on the play button the offending screen shot will go away.

Montpellier vs. Leon Video: http://www.ehftv.com/video/000259

Montpellier vs. Leon Audio: https://teamhandballnews.com/request47.html (1:27) (Right Click to download)

There’s 48 games left in the first group phase of the Champions League, but some of these games mean a lot more than others. Here’s a summary status of each of the 8 groups and the key remaining matches. To simplify I’ve clustered the groups based on their similar status. Keep in mind that a key feature of the new Champions League format is that the top 2 teams from each group advance together where they will join another pairing of two teams into a new group of 4. The two matches between the advancing teams will also carry over into the standings of the new group. For most of the groups it’s fairly clear who’s likely to advance, so I’ve projected the carry over standings. Keep in mind that an upset could change the predictions, but for the most part it’s fairly unlikely.

[b]Cluster 1 (1 dominant team): [/b]In these groups it looks like there is one dominant team clearly on course to take 4 points into the next round. The only remaining matches of mild interest are the showdowns between the 2nd and 3rd place to see who will also advance (albeit with 0 points)

[b]Group B[/b] (Likely Carry Over Standings)
Ciudad Real 4 Points
Svendborg or Sarajevo 0 Points

Key Remaining Match: Svendborg at Sarajevo (22 Nov, 1730)
– Svendborg won the first match 30-26

[b]Group D [/b](Likely Carry Over Standings)
Hamburg 4 Points
FCK Handbold or Tatran Presov 0 Points

Key Remaining Match: Tatran Presov at FCK Handbold (22 Nov, 1610)
– FCK Handbold won the first match 33-32

[b]Cluster 2 (2 dominant teams): [/b]In these groups there are 2 teams that are destined for the next round. The only question is how many points will these teams carry over. In each case these teams have already played once, so one team already has 2 points or in the case of Zagreb-Rhein Neckar, 1 point a piece.

Also, of interest is the head to head goal differential as that could decide who advances if the 2 teams are tied on point at then end of the next round. As an example Celje will not only want to beat Chambery, they will try and win by 8 goals if possible. And if you really want to get complicated the next tie breaker is away goals scored, so a 7 goal victory would be enough if they can keep Chambery under 30 goals

[b]Group A [/b](Likely Carry Over Standings)
Chambery 2 or 4 Points
Celje 0 or 2 Points

Key Remaining Match:
– Chambery at Celje (16 Nov, 1600) – Chambery won the first match 37-30

[b]Group C [/b](Likely Carry Over Standings)
Kiel 2 or 4 Points
Barcelona 0 or 2 Points

Key Remaining Match:
-Barcelona at Kiel (23 Nov, 1730) – Kiel won the first match 31-27

[b]Group F [/b](Likely Carry Over Standings)
Veszprem 2 or 4 Points
Flensburg 0 or 2 Points
Haukar: They have an outside chance as well, based on their surprise upset of Veszprem.

Key Remaining Matches:
– Flensburg at Haukar (8 Nov, 1930) – Haukar beat Veszprem on their home court; Can they do it to Flensburg too?
– Veszprem at Flensburg (16 Nov, 1730) – Veszprem won the first match 29-28

[b]Group G [/b](Likely Carry Over Standings)
Ademar 2 or 4 Points
Montpellier 2 or 0 Points

Key Remaining Match:
Montpellier at Ademar (16 Nov, 1700) – Ademar won the first match 25-21

[b]Group H[/b] (Likely Carry Over Standings)
Rhein Neckar 1 or 3 Points
Zagreb 1 or 3 Points

Key Remaining Match:
– Zagreb at Rhein Neckar (13 Nov, 2000) – Rhein Neckar and Zagreb drew the first match 33-33

[b]Cluster 3 (AKA Group E: Somebody has to win this thing):[/b] This group is the closest one I’ve ever seen in Champions League Group play. Chekhov so far, is the only team to win a road game. If both home teams win this weekend (Koper hosts Bucharest and Portland San Antonio hosts Chekhov) there will be a 4 way tie for 1st place with all 4 teams level at 4 points.

Key Remaining Matches: (Right now they are all key!)
– Bucharest at Koper (8 Nov, 1745) -Bucharest won the first match 28-26
– Chekhov at Portland San Antonio (8 Nov, 2000) Chekhov won the first match 34-26
– Koper at Chekhov (15 Nov, 1400) Chekhov won the first match 35-28
– Portland San Antonio at Bucharest (15 Nov, 1900) Portland San Antonio won the first match 38-30
– Koper at Portland San Antonio (22 Nov, 2000) – Koper won the first match 31-29
– Bucharest at Chekhov (23 Nov, 1400) – Bucharest won the first match 34-32

[b]EHFTV Website:[/b] www.ehftv.com

[b]Chronological Schedule of Remaining Key Matches[/b] (All times are CET- 6 hours ahead of New York)

– Bucharest at Koper (8 Nov, 1745)
– Chekhov at Portland San Antonio (8 Nov, 2000)
– Flensburg at Haukar (8 Nov, 1930) – Haukar upset Veszprem when they visited Iceland; Can they surprise Flensburg too?

– Zagreb at Rhein Neckar (13 Nov, 2000) – Rhein Neckar and Zagreb drew the first match 33-33

– Koper at Chekhov (15 Nov, 1400)
– Portland San Antonio at Bucharest (15 Nov, 1900)

– Chambery at Celje (16 Nov, 1600) – Chambery won the first match 37-30
– Montpellier at Ademar (16 Nov, 1700) – Ademar won the first match 25-21
– Veszprem at Flensburg (16 Nov, 1730) – Veszprem won the first match 29-28

– Tatran Presov at FCK Handbold (22 Nov, 1610) – FCK Handbold won the first match 33-32
– Svendborg at Sarajevo (22 Nov, 1730) – Svendborg won the first match 30-26
– Koper at Porland San Antonio (22 Nov, 2000)

– Bucharest at Chekhov (23 Nov, 1400)
– Barcelona at Kiel (23 Nov, 1730)- Kiel won the first match 31-27

The new European Handball Federation (EHF) webstreaming site ehftv.com www.ehftv.com has added additional games for on demand viewing.

Matches added include:

Drammen HK (NOR) vs F.C. Barcelona Borges (ESP)
Hammarby (SWE) vs HC "Granitas-Karys" (LTU)
THW Kiel (GER) vs HC Metalurg (MKD)
HSV Hamburg (GER) vs Tatran Presov (SVK)

Based on these additions, there's a good chance that the marquee matches (see below) will also be available on demand.

HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb vs. Rhein-Neckar Löwen
GOG Svendborg TGI vs BM Ciudad Real
Reale Ademar vs. Montpellier HB

The European Handball Champions League starts today with multiple viewing opportunities via the internet. The first game is tonight and features heavily favored Spanish club, Portland San Antonio vs. Romanian side Steaua Bucharest. On Saturday, the match of the week sees resurgent Zagreb hosting struggling German side Rhein-Neckar. Zagreb has gone on a spending spree to sign and bring home many of the top Croatian players who had been playing elsewhere in Europe while Rhein Neckar has already fired and hired a new coach after a poor start in the Bundesliga. On Sunday, Svendborg will host defending champion Ciudad Real. Of note, for North American fans, Svendborg has 2 Greenlanders on their roster, veteran Jakob Larsen and newcomer Minik Dahl Hoeg. The last game features Spanish side Ademar hosting French Champions Montpellier.

[b]A new format: [/b] As in previous years, the top two teams from each of the 8 groups will advance to the next round of competition. This year, however, those two teams will also take the results of their 2 matches with them to the next round of competition. As there is often a wide disparity between the teams participating in the tournament there has often been no suspense in determining which two teams will advance in some of the groups. With the results carrying over into the next Group Phase, however, goal differential will now play a key role in these early matches. This is particularly true for some of the matches that will be video streamed this weekend.

[b]Highlights show: [/b] Eurosport is producing a 26 minute highlight show which will include interviews and background stories. It’s not entirely clear, but it looks like this will be available on the EHF website.

[b]Match Schedule: [/b] http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2008-09/article/11787/Live+Stream+from+Portland

Thursday, 2 October at 20:30
Portland San Antonio (ESP) vs Steaua MFA (ROU)

Saturday, 4 October at 17:45
Croatia Osiguranje (CRO) vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)

Sunday, 5 October at 15:55
GOG Svendborg TGI (DEN) vs BM Ciudad Real (ESP)

Sunday, 5 October at 18:00
Reale Ademar (ESP) vs Montpellier HB (FRA)

All times listed are Central European Time (CET) which is 6 hours ahead of the North American East Coast. It is unclear as to whether the matches will be available on demand afterwards and we’ve asked the EHF for clarification.

[b]EHF – IHF Championship Conflict Postponed:[/b] The European Handball Federation (EHF) has completed its congress in Vienna. 49 member nations were present a number of issues were addressed Notably, the EHF declined to commit fully to a proposal that would change the scheduling for European Championships to odd years, a move that would conflict with the current schedule format for the International Handball Federation (IHF) World Championships. Instead a Working Group was formed to further address the issue. The EHF also appears to have embraced the need for input from the major clubs, as Group Club Handball (GCH) President/Ciudad Real President, Joan Marin is a member. Previously, the EHF had been wary of the GCH as its formation was seen as a threat to the EHF Champions League competition.

[b]Funding Split: [/b]Revenue from the EHF Championship tournament will also now include 10% profit sharing for the clubs as insurance for players participating in the tournament. This should help alleviate one of the major club complaints that these National Team tournaments were not only disruptive to their club schedules, but also a major risk to them due to player injuries.

[b]EHF Championships Awarded: [/b]Serbia may not be part of the European Union yet, but the EHF member nations gave it a vote of confidence by awarding them hosting rights for 2012 EHF Men’s Championships.. Fellow contender Germany was eliminated in the first round and then Serbia narrowly defeated France in the 2nd round 26-23. In the Women’s vote, the Netherlands easily beat Ukraine 32-17. Both Germany and Serbia had proposed bids for the Women’s tournament but withdrew prior to the vote. Germany’s bid was contingent of a dual Men/Women hosting concept and Serbia withdrew once it had won the Men’s competition vote.

[b]Analysis: [/b]The EHF, European clubs, national leagues and national federations had been working at cross purposes due to their conflicting interests. It now appears that these key players now recognize that they all should all have a seat at the table, even if they still disagree as to which tournaments should take precedence. It would also appear that they see the need to put forth a unified European effort if they are going to succeed in their efforts to move the IHF World Championship to a once every four year cycle. The IHF is scheduled to again discuss this issue at their Council meeting next month.

EHF website article on Congress results (Day 2): http://www.eurohandball.com/article/11780
Group Club Handball: www.groupclubhandball.com
Earlier commentary on 2 vs. 4 year tournament cycle: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?extend.331

The Final and 3rd place game from this past weekend's tournament are available for viewing on-demand at this website:
http://www.ehfcl.com/2008-09/videos

The EHF Men's Champions Trophy Tourney matches will be available for viewing world-wide on the internet this weekend. The Champions Trophy is a one weekend 4 team tourney featuring the 3 winners of last year's EHF club tournaments and one wild card team. The participants are

2007/08 Champions League winner: ESP BM Ciudad Real
2007/08 EHF Cup winner: GER HSG Nordhorn
2007/08 Cup Winners’ Cup winner: HUN MKB Veszprém
Wild card and CL runner-up: GER THW Kiel

Commentary: This is kind of a strange event from an American perspective. It would be sort of like if college basketball had an early season tournament with the NCAA Champion, the NIT Champion, the Div II Champion and a wild card team. The tournament doesn't really mean much, but then again who cares. Anytime you get to see to two best club teams in the world, Kiel and Ciudad Real you don't need to complain.

[b]Playing schedule:[/b]

[b]Saturday, 20 September 2008[/b]
16:00 CET Semi-final 1: Nordhorn /GER vs Veszprém /HUN
18:00 CET time Semi-final 2: THW Kiel/GER vs Ciudad Real/ESP

[b]Sunday, 21 September 2008[/b]
13:00 CET 3rd Place
15:00 CET Final
(Note: CET is 6 hours ahead of U.S. East Coast Time)

EHFTV website: http://www.ehftv.com/

This past weekend saw the return leg matches for Europe’s 7 remaining spots for the 2009 World Championships that will take place in Croatia next January. 6 of those 7 tickets have been punched, but the winner of the Hungary – Bosnia & Herzegovina play will have to await a ruling from the EHF. At the outset of the two game playoff Hungary was a strong favorite to beat Bosnia, which despite it’s handball pedigree as a member of the former Yugoslavia is still a struggling nation state trying to shake off the conflicts of the 1990’s. But in the first match, Hungary only managed a two goal ,27-25 victory at home, rightly giving Bosnia reason to be optimistic for the return leg in front of a boisterous crowd in Sarajevo.

The second leg, however, did not go the Bosnian’s way as visiting Hungary took an 18-12 lead at halftime. In the second half, Bosnia staged a comeback, cutting the lead to 27-24 with 12 minutes to play. At that point in the match a Bosnian player was called for a charge on the left wing. As he tried to slip between two defenders, one of the Hungarian defenders clearly took the brunt of the charge, while the other defender tried to stop the Bosnian’s upper torso. The result was the Bosnian taking a pretty good fall, even though, at least in this viewer’s opinion, the charge was still the proper call.

Needless to say the Bosnian fans didn’t like it and when a Bosnian player was called for 2 minutes shortly thereafter the fans started to throw debris onto the court. The youtube video shows some of the on court discussion which resulted in the Hungarian team leaving the court, the Bosnian coach addressing the crowd and the Swedish EHF delegate trying to talk to the crowd in English. Best I can tell from the video the crowd continues to throw items and he makes an on the spot decision that “the game is closed.”

Youtube video #1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lGrZtmBzHA
Youtube video #2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RybgJ6cLijo
Youtube video #3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dCDWyRWxHN0

The EHF has indicated on its website that the “case and its consequences are currently being dealt with by the EHF Disciplinary bodies.” http://www.eurohandball.com/inc/print.asp?oid=11570 The handball forums are buzzing with all sorts of conspiracy theories and complaints about the officiating by the pair from Iceland. Bosnia is protesting the match on the grounds that the Hungarian team should have returned to the court and that the EHF delegate could have done more to restart the match. Throwing aside the officiating, it’s likely that the EHF will rule in favor of Hungary as Bosnia would have had to win by 3 goals to win the playoff on aggregate. While it’s in the realm of possibility that Bosnian could have made up the 6 goal deficit it would have been unlikely.

In other matches, Macedonia lost by only 6 goals, 30-24 in Reykjavik, to beat Iceland by an overall aggregate of two goals. This puts Iceland in the unique situation of qualifying for the 12 team Olympic field, but failing to qualify for the 24 team World Championship field. Also joining Macedonia will be fellow former Yugoslavia Republic, Serbia, which tied the Czech Republic on overall aggregate, but squeaks in due to the more away goals tiebreaker. Not so fortunate are Montenegro and Slovenia which each lost by 1 goal on aggregate against Romania and Slovakia respectively. Also qualifying are Poland, Russia, Norway and Spain.

Complete results: http://home.eurohandball.com/report.asp?bid=260&rnr=2&pha=1026

Editor’s Note: If anyone want to chime in with what the Bosnian announcers and the players are saying in their post game interviews (video 3) please do so.

The EHF is broadcasting 4 matches for the last round and one of them will be available live on Thursday afternoon (for North Americans anyway).

Thursday, 13 March
19:15 CET THW Kiel vs. Ademar Leon
The math is simple, but the task is hard. Leon needs to beat the defending champions in Kiel in order to advance. Kiel just needs a draw.

Remember that Europe hasn’t started Daylight Savings Time, so there is only a 5 hour difference (instead of the usual 6) between the East Coast and CET.

Link to Videos: http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2007-08/videos

Saturday, 8 March, 16:30hrs
FC Barcelona vs GOG Svendborg TGI Gudme
An unlikely showdown for Group 4 supremacy. Svendborg won their first match in Denmark 35-33, and they most likely will need a draw or a win in Spain in order to advance.

Sunday, 9 March, 14:45hrs
Zvezda Zvenigorod vs Viborg HK
This Women’s match is a battle for 2nd place in Group 2. Viborg won the first match in Denmark 31-29.

Sunday, 9 March, 18:00hrs
Portland San Antonio vs HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb
Zagreb’s big win over Hamburg put them in first place in Group 3, but they now need to pick up some points in their remaining matches at Portland San Antonio (this week) and Flensburg next week. Portland San Antonio needs to win out in order to advance.

Important: Daylight Savings Time starts in the USA on Sunday, but doesn‘t start in Europe for a few weeks. The time difference to the US East Coast on Sunday will therefore be 5 hours instead of the usual 6.

The EHF is offering 4 matches this weekend. Here’s a summary and a recommendation on which matches to watch.

[b]Saturday, 1 March[/b], 17:00 Central European Time (CET)

FC Barcelona at Celje Pivovarna Lasko Celje needs to win this match to have any chance of winning Group 4. Barcelona is all alone in first place and their remaining two matches are both at home.

[b]Sunday, 2 March[/b]

16:30 CET Portland San Antonio at SG Flensburg Handewitt This is essentially an elimination match for Group 3. Portland San Antonio and Flensburg have only 2 and 1 points respectively and to qualify either side will probably have to win all their remaining games to finish first

17:30 CET
VfL Gummersbach at RK Gorenje Velenje
Ciudad Real is all alone at the top of Group 2 with 6 points, while Gummersback, Velenje and Montpellier have only 2 points. As such this is another elimination game as both sides probably need to win their 3 remaining matches to catch Ciudad Real.

17:45 CET (Taped delayed and available around 19:45)
HSV Hamburg at RK Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb
A pivotal battle for first place in Group 3. Hamburg won by 3 in Germany, but now they will travel to a sold out arena in Zagreb. The atmosphere should be electric and with no commentating you may need to turn down the volume on your computer or the crowd noise could be deafening. If you can only watch 1 match this is clearly the one you should see.

Link to Videos: http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2007-08/videos