“Handball exists!”: this is the title with which we celebrated Italy’s historic qualification for the 2025 World Cup. A question, in fact, has accompanied us for over fifteen years: why Italy, a historic and over a century-old all-round sporting power, has not Ever achieved weight results in handball? If we go back to all the results from 2008 onwards, we will realize how the list of defeats is almost infinite. A national team that never managed not only to take part in a major event (European or World Cup), but often shattered its hopes even against the obstacle of pre-qualifying. Without beating around the bush: for years Italy in handball has been what Moldova, Malta or Luxembourg are in football. Yes, it was as if he didn’t exist. For this reason we defined her as the true black sheep of Italian sport.
The tide has finally changed in recent years. After some failed experiments, such as that of the federal women’s team ‘Futura Roma’ which did not obtain the desired results, the inauguration of the federal technical center in Chieti in 2021, or the so-called ‘House of Handball’, marked a decisive turning point. The work on young people, which had already begun a few seasons ago, found its sublimation in the launch of a federal team called “Campus Italia”. In fact, the best 16, 17 and 18 year olds were grouped together for two seasons, who first took part in the A2 championship and then in the Serie A Gold. Once the two-year period was over, almost all of these kids found important jobs not only in Italian clubs, but also abroad. The first fruits began to be seen with the historic qualification of Italy U20 for the 2022 European Championships, a result repeated this year by the Under18. In short, a virtuous circle has been created which represents the national team’s reservoir and which will guarantee replacements even in the short term future.
It is undeniable that the Federation has worked in the right way: we must admit that in the past, OA Sport has never lacked criticism, sometimes even harsh criticism. For some time now we have finally taken the right direction. A prominent result was needed to certify it in an unappealable manner. Too many times, in the recent past, the Azzurri had paid the price for unfavorable draws. This time the vote was more benevolent, although the path to the World Cup proved to be very tough, with three rounds of playoffs to overcome: first Turkey, with a crazy home comeback after -9 in the first leg, then Belgium and finally Montenegro, 14th at the last European Championships.
The world championship in January 2025 must be seen as a starting point. It will be the opportunity to compete against superior teams, which until recently we considered unapproachable: playing against the best helps us to progress, to understand our limits and study how to overcome them. The next step will be to find a stable international dimension, therefore regularly qualifying for the European and World Championships. And who knows, sooner or later, even the word ‘Olympics’ will no longer be seen as a taboo. It will be necessary to take one step at a time, as has happened so far. Much remains to be done, starting with a female sector that is currently much further behind. Handball is certainly no longer the black sheep of Italian sport. Who now gets this unwelcome palm? Ice hockey has ‘earned’ the title…
2024-05-13 21:05:22
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