From 16 to 18 August, the Pavilhão Cidade de Viseu in central Portugal hosted the third edition of the ‘International Vida Trophy’ (Troféu Internacional Vida).

The four-a-side Wheelchair Handball, round-robin tournament predominantly featuring the Spain vs Portugal national team match-up, is now in its third edition, after its inaugural edition in 2022, won by the host nation. who followed it up with another win in 2023. 

This year saw three teams compete with French all-star club side USL Lons-le-Saunier joining the two national sides, with World and European champions Portugal again looking strong as they won both their matches, including gaining some revenge on Spain, who they lost to in France in June.

The opening game saw the classic neighbour derby between Portugal and Spain with the host nation taking a 2-0 (6:5, 10:4) victory. Portugal, coached by Danilo Ferreira, started slowly but worked their way towards a 4:2 lead, forcing Spain to take a time out five minutes in. It worked, and the Spanish team came back but the host nation did just enough to take the first set 6:5. The second period saw Portugal race to a 5:2 lead after just five minutes, a lead they extended to six by the end (10:4).

On the second day Spain saw off USL Lons-le-Saunier via shoot-out after two tight sets, the first won by the French side (6:7) and the second won by the Spanish (8:7). The shoot-out saw the national team take a 3:2 win for the over result.

The third and final day saw Portugal take on the French club team, led by key player Fatih Cuhadar. After an equal opening, Portugal went on a 5:0 run to lead 6:1 and ease comfortably to a 9:3 first set win.

But the French came back in the second, providing a much-needed test for the Portuguese, who are preparing for the IHF World Championship next month. The second set was all-square after eight minutes (4:4) and 10 minutes (7:7), but the home side did just enough to squeeze one more point to take a 10:9 victory and overall win, with Portugal’s Ricardo Queirós scoring 11 goals in total.

“This preparation stage for the IHF World Championship is positive, as it was the first time that we seriously worked on the four-a-side aspect, because we are going to have an important competition,” said coach Ferreira to fpa.pt.

“I was pleased with the performance of the athletes, some of whom normally play less but came on in the two games we played and performed well. Now, it’s time to continue the work moving forward. I would also like to mention the work that has been done since the beginning of this project by the Portuguese Handball Federation, associations, clubs, directors, coaches, athletes and all the medical staff who have collaborated and tried to contribute.

“We are now at a point where we either stagnate, running the risk of regressing in the future, or we continue to want to be at the top of the sport and we continue to work and look for new answers so that it is possible for us to continue to be a reference. Therefore, I leave this challenge to everyone involved.”

Portugal will travel to Egypt next month for the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship which takes place from 16 to 21 September. They will be joined by Brazil, Japan, France, United States of America, India, Chile and hosts Egypt for the event which will be held in Cairo.

2024 International Life Trophy

Final Ranking
1 Portugal
2 Spain
3 USL Lons-le-Saunier

Results
Portugal vs Spain 2-0 (6:5, 10:4)
USL Lons-le-Saunier vs Spain 1-2 (7:6, 7:8, 2:3)
Portugal vs USL Lons-le-Saunier 2-0 (9:3, 10:9)

The Vida Internacional Trophy ran alongside a friendly tournament of seven-a-side handball featuring the men’s sides of FC Porto, MT Melsungen, Marítimo Madeira Handball SAD, SL Benfica, CB Ademar León and Sporting CP. All games from Viseu were broadcast live on AndebolTV.

Hand 4 All – 2024 edition success

Portugal and Spain had faced off in June (20 to 22), at the third edition of the Euro Hand 4 All tournament in Écully, France. A total of 13, six-a-side matches were held over three days, with the national teams of Portugal, Spain, France, Netherlands, Hungary and Norway all competing.

France beat Netherlands 14:6 for bronze, while Spain overcame Portugal 22:21 in the final. It marked the first time Portuguese had lost the tournament after taking the first one in 2022 and winning the second, held last year. 

“Switching to six-a-side handball allowed us to test new systems,” said France coach Fabien Convers whose team played that format for the first time, to ffhandball.fr.

“We need to be as prepared as possible to face the start of the IHF World Championship,” added the coach about switching back to the four-a-side version of the game at a training camp in Besançon at the end of this month.

“This last training camp is also an opportunity to refine the game plan and arrive with confidence in Egypt.”

For more information about Euro Hand 4 All, visit www.eurohand4all.com.