Netherlands find their feet after Argentina shine 

After being behind 5:0 early on and not drawing level until the 27th minute (15:15), the Netherlands earned a comprehensive victory over a spirited Argentina in their opening game at the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 in Torrevieja, Spain.

In the end, the Dutch ensured a 17-goal turnaround for a double-digit win, setting them up nicely for their clash against Czechia on Friday, followed by Argentina facing a tough test against host nation Spain.

Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #2
Netherlands vs Argentina 34:22 (19:16)

With two, consecutive top five finishes in the past two Olympic Games – 4th (2016) and 5th (2020) – Per Johansson and his Netherlands side were the clear favourites going into this game against the South American team who had just a sole Olympic appearance to date (Rio 2016).

But Argentina had different thoughts with goalkeeper Marisol Carratu defending between the sticks impressively and her attack making the most of the chances presented to them.

The first five attacks for Netherlands saw technical faults, saves and the post being hit, while Carratu’s stops inspired an Argentina attack led by Elke Karsten, Micaela Casasola and the inventive Malena Cavo amongst others to capitalise – their effectiveness sitting on 83% thanks to 10 strikes from 12 attempts.

In contrast, Netherlands were on a lowly 47% (7/15) attacking rate and without a save, Johansson swapping out starter Yara Ten Holte for Rinka Duijndam just after the first quarter. But Argentina continued their impressive start deep into the opening half, causing a Johansson time out for Netherlands with 22 minutes on the clock and his team behind 10:13.

Argentina continued to showcase their skills, Cavo’s sublime assist to put her side 15:13 ahead, one of the highlights of a wide variety of impressive passages of play.

But the IHF World Championship gold (2019), silver (2015) and bronze (2017) medal winning Netherlands came back strongly, led by the experienced and influential Angela Malestein and Lois Abbingh.

They drew equal for the first time with under three minutes remaining (15:15, 27th minute) and then scored two quick goals in the final 40 seconds of the half to take a 19:16 lead.

The South Americans kept up their fight early in the second half, but a double two-minute suspension going in to the last third of the game finally turned the tide as the Dutch sped to a five-goal lead (24:19, 43rd minute), prompting an Argentina time out.

As the South American side tired, Netherlands capitalised, rotating their squad and bringing fresh legs on to limit Argentina to just a further three goals in the final 15 minutes.

“We have to be proud of everybody on the team and the head coach,” said Argentina’s Elke Karsten to ihf.info after the game. “The performance in the first half was very good and we know we can show very good handball.”

The result means Argentina continue their losing sequence against the European side in Olympic competition after a preliminary group 18:26 loss at Rio 2016 and 21:30 defeat at the London 2012 Olympic Qualification Tournament.

hummel Player of the Match: Angela Malestein (Netherlands)