Argentina becomes the fourth men’s team to book tickets to the Olympic handball in Paris. It was a fact after victory 32-25 in the final of the Pan American Games against Brazil last weekend.
Argentina can start the preparation for the Olympics in Paris next summer. The golden ticket was secured during the weekend’s South American Olympic qualifiers, the Pan American Games, which were decided in Chile. Argentina stormed through the group stage, seeing off the USA, Cuba and Uruguay, before defeating Chile 30–28 in a raucous semi final.
In the final they then faced great rival Brazil. A game which beforehand was very difficult to guess the outcome.
Brazil, led by Barcelona’s Haniel Langaro, got off to the best start in the first 20 minutes. After that, however, Argentina played well and rushed ahead to a lead. When, in addition, playmaker Nicolas Bono was on fire during the final moments, the Argentinians were able to win relatively comfortably with the final score 32–25.
This result means that Argentina becomes the fourth team to qualify for the Olympics in Paris. The other three are France, Denmark and Japan. Brazil will get a second chance to qualify for the Olympics playing in the qualification tournament in April next year.