Handball coach assumes favoritism against Bosnia in the World Cup play-off

After 10th place in 2021, in Egypt, and 13th place in 2023, in the competition organized by Poland and Sweden, the ‘quinas’ team aims for its third consecutive appearance in world championships, having, in this sense, , to win a round in which they have to prove stronger, with games scheduled for Thursday, in Guimarães, and Sunday, in Tuzla.

“Of course we assume favoritism. If we don’t manage to qualify for the play-offs, it’s a real failure, although failure is always on the way to success. You can’t always win. You won’t always lose. Obviously, we are favorites “, he said, in the projection of the game scheduled for 7:30 pm, at the Pavilhão Desportivo Unit Vimaranense.

Pleased with today’s training on the challenge stage, especially because his athletes have already “started to recover some ideas they have been working on for a long time”, the coach highlighted that the main mission for Thursday is to take the Balkan team feeling “that they can’t beat” Portugal.

“It’s important for them to feel like they can’t beat us. Sometimes the result may not exactly mirror what happens in the game. We have to make them feel like we’re better. From then on, if everything goes normally, we’ll win, hoping the largest possible margin”, he added.

Top seed in the play-off that will qualify 11 European teams for the 2024 World Cup, given the seventh place achieved at Euro2024 in Germany, Portugal must “dedicate themselves” and face the two games with “as much seriousness as possible “, avoiding the temptation to see the tie as “an easy thing”.

Despite finishing 24th and last in the previous European Championship, Bosnia-Herzegovina has a new coach, Damir Doborac, who may have new ideas, and players of “excellent level”, such as goalkeeper Benjamin Buric, from the Germans from Flensburg, the full-back Marko Panic, from the French from Montpellier, and the pivot Adin Faljic, from the Croatians from RK Zagreb, considered Paulo Jorge Pereira.

The selector therefore argued that the 16 Portuguese called up for the round cannot “be satisfied” with what they have already achieved and have to “want to do more”.

“The problem is when we crystallize. We are very good if we continue to do well. It is a record that is necessary. The difficulty is, sometimes, we think that we are already doing everything well”, he detailed.

Despite the absences, due to injury, of the brothers Martim Costa, left back who was the top scorer at Euro2024, with 54 goals, and Francisco Costa, right back, as well as pivot Alexis Borges, Paulo Jorge Pereira was pleased with the players at his disposal, such as full-backs Salvador Salvador or Alexandre Cavalcanti, who “may have more space in attack”, or even João Gomes, who could debut from the corners of the chest.

Convinced that it is a disadvantage to play the first leg at home and the second leg away, the selector also asked for “a spectacular atmosphere” in the Vitória de Guimarães pavilion, “smaller and more cozy” than the Multiusos de Guimarães, the venue for the ” iconic triumph” over France, 33–27, on April 11, 2019.

If Portugal wins the play-off with Bosnia-Herzegovina, it will compete in the World Cup 2025, a competition organized by Croatia, Denmark and Norway, with 32 teams, between January 14th and February 2nd.