Brazil book last quarter-final ticket

12 Dec. 2011

Brazil book last quarter-final ticket

Three continents are represented in the quarter-finals of the XX Women’s World Championship: After Angola and six European teams had qualified for the round of the last eight teams, host Brazil took the last ticket thanks to a victory over Ivory Coast.

 

Brazil – Ivory  Coast 35:22 (15:8)

For the second time after 2005, when they were ranked seventh in the end, Brazil is now among the best eight nations at a Women’s World Championship. More than 4000 spectators celebrated the clear victory of the host against underdog Ivory Coast, which means that Brazil will face Spain in the quarter-final on Wednesday 14 December.

Especially in the first half the host was far away from the performing level they had presented in the Preliminary Round. But the Africans showed a compact and aggressive defence, which made it hard to score for the Pan Americans. Beside this, the Brazilian defence was vulnerable for the African shots. Only goalkeeper Chana Masson was on her usual level – and thanks to her saves and the following counter attacks the host extended the gap from 11:8 to 15:8 at the break. The Ivorian spell and resistance had been broken after 30 minutes, as it took only seven minutes to reach a ten-goals difference at a score of 20:10.

The rest was, thanks to a handball deli, spectacular goals and a real joy of playing by the host, party on the fields and the stands. For the Africans the hurdle in the knock-out stage was too high – but at least they had reached their goal by qualifying for the eight-finals.


Statements after the match:

Thierry Vincent, coach Ivory Coast: I am very proud of my team, as nobody here can imagine what handball in Ivory Coast means. We had only one week of preparation for this World Championship. We have only one professional player in our team, eight of them are still playing in Ivory Coast.  And the Ivorian Championship lasts only three months and is played outdoor. So we already knew before that this match against Brazil will be our last here. But we enjoyed the great atmosphere in this arena. And for me as a Frenchman it is easier to play against Brazil than against France. I hope for Brazil that they reach the final – but then lose against France.

Morten Soubak, coach Brazil: Of course we are very happy, as we now belong to the top of the world. We had a difficult start, as we again missed too many free shots. This we have to improve. But we are classified for the quarter-finals, this is what counts.

Badjo Lobouet, player Ivory Coast: For me it was a great honour to be here in Brazil, to be attended by this huge crowd and audience.

Ana Paula Rodrigues, player Brazil: It is great to be in the quarter-finals, though we can play better than we did today. But now we want more.

Those are the quarterfinals, which will be played on Wednesday 14 December in Arena Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo:

Russia – France (11:45 local time)

Angola – Denmark (14:30 local time)

Norway – Croatia (17.15 local time)

Spain – Brazil (20:00 local time)

 

After the eight-finals and the President’s Cup had been played, the ranking of the places 9 – 24 is clear:

9. Sweden

10. Montenegro

11. Korea

12. Iceland

13. Romania

14. Japan

15. Netherlands

16. Ivory Coast

17. Germany

18. Tunisia

19. Kazakhstan

20. Uruguay

21. China

22. Cuba

23. Argentina

24. Australia

As the World Champion qualifies directly for the Olympic Games and Brazil and Norway are already qualified for London 2012, six teams up to place nine (including Sweden) are qualified for the three Olympic Qualification Tournaments, played 25 – 27 May 2012. The three best-ranked nations not directly qualified for London will be the host of those tournaments.

And due to this ranking the allocation of the one or two European continental places for the Olympic Qualification tournaments are determined. The first continental place is taken by Romania (Bronze medallist at the EHF EURO 2010). If Europe is among the two best continents in Brazil, the second ticket is for Montenegro (sixth ranked at the EHF EURO 2010). If Angola becomes African Champion in January 2012 and Europe is among the two best ranked continents in Brazil, Montenegro will be qualified via the World Championship – and the Netherlands will take the second European ticket for the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.