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Heart, spirit and a guardian angel: Portugal's iron-clad recipe for success
31 Jan. 2025
“Internally, we have talked about that. But from talking to getting here, it required some huge steps, some dedication and a lot, a lot of doing everything right.”
Paulo Pereira has been Portugal’s coach since 2016 and has overseen a complete makeover of a side which did not qualify to any edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship between 2003 and 2021. But since Egypt 2021, Portugal have always knocked at the door.
They finished 10th at Egypt 2021 and 13th at Poland/Sweden 2023. But now, at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, they have been absolutely fantastic. Not only they built their longest unbeaten streak in history in the world handball flagship competition – seven matches in a row – they are also only one step away from a medal.
Ihf.info has already talked to Pereira in 2021, when Portugal were returning after almost two decades to the IHF Men’s World Championship. “I have told it countless times, we are able to beat any team in the world, if we play at our best level. We proved that time and time again. But there is one trick, though, we must stay cool-headed and humble,” said Portugal’s coach back then.
Four years later, Portugal saw off Norway, Sweden, Spain and Germany, perennial contenders in the last decades, to secure their maiden semi-finals spot, with a modern, fast-paced handball, with tailor-made players for Pereira’s brave system.
The 31:30 extra-time win against Germany, in the semi-finals, was just the icing on the cake of a perfect campaign. To understand what this matters for Portugal, every match so far at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship has been broadcasted on RTP2, the second channel of the Portuguese national television.
The semi-final against Denmark, scheduled for Friday, at 20:30 CET in the Unity Arena in Baerum, will be on RTP1.
“We had to a get to a semi-final to be on the first channel, no?,” joked Pereira, when asked about the situation. “This means that we are finally seen, this means that handball is starting to get mainstream in Portugal and we can only be happy about this, this team deserves it,” adds the Portugal coach.
The European side signalled their intentions when they returned on the big stages at the EHF EURO 2020, finishing sixth. They made the top-10 at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, brimming with potential and confidence, but still lacking the cutting edge. They needed something extra. And they got it twice the size.
The final pieces of the puzzle were the two Costa brothers – Francisco and Martim. The former is only 19 years old, but will likely finish in the top-10 goal scorers standings, having already 44 goals. The latter added 37 goals, with the two scoring 81 of Portugal’s 240 goals in the competition.
Francisco and Martim are the prototype of the modern handballer. Fast, agile, with a penchant for breakthroughs, they can derail any defence at a given time, as proven time and time again during the competition. In fact, Francisco has scored 24 of his 44 goals via breakthrough, slaloming through the defence. Martim has 19 goals from the nine-metre line and 10 goals via breakthroughs.
“They fit well into our team. They have grown incredibly strong, they needed some experience, now they have it and are crucial to our team. I saw their father, Ricardo, who is their coach at Sporting CP, in the domestic league. He was there in the stands for one of our matches. I told him, thank you for them. Thank you for creating such good players,” added Pereira.
Portugal can now ensure a medal provided they beat Denmark, which are unbeaten in the world handball flagship competition since 2017, raking up an unprecedented streak of 35 unbeaten matches in the competition.
So far, Denmark have won six out of their seven matches by double digits margins, with the other one, 28:22 against Czechia, coming when they had already secured the first place in the main round group in Herning.
“They have a fantastic team. Of course, they also have their weak points and we will try to exploit them. But we will have to be extra careful, especially with our changes between attack and defence, because they run a very tight ship, they play very fast. We need to be careful in transition. They are an amazing team. But we will not back down,” says Pereira.
It has been a fantastic journey for the “Heróis do Mar”, but one which was also riddled sadness. Browse through the comments on social media and a recurring theme appears between them.
Portugal’s first steps towards greatness were made with the help of some Cuban-born players who then started to ply their trade from a young age in Portugal. One of them is Victor Iturriza, still in the team at his World Championship. The other was Alfredo Quintana, who tragically passed away in February 2021, just before Portugal made it to the Olympics for the first time, qualifying for Tokyo 2020.
His memory is ever-present in the minds of the fans, but as well on the skin of some players, with captain Rui Silva having Quintana’s portrait tattooed on his arm, while Francisco Costa, who had a close relationship with the former goalkeeper, also has Quintana’s initials tattooed on his wrist, kissing them every time he enters the court.
For Pereira and for all the teammates who knew him, Quintana is still with the team, guarding Portugal from the heavens.
“I talked with his wife, she sent me a message in the day of the quarter-final against Germany. We cannot forget him. He is still here with us. Maybe he guards us from heaven,” concludes Pereira.