Goalkeeper-Field player in situations of offensive numerical inferiority in handball: Penalty or advantage?

Abstract

The main goal was to analyze the end results in offensive actions between teams that do or do not employ the goalkeeper-field player in situations of offensive numerical inferiority in handball. The secondary objectives focus on analyzing the use and behavior of the goalkeeper-field player, as well as its role in the final offensive result and following actions in terms of the opposing team’s counterattack.86 official match reports from the 22nd Women's Handball World Championship (Denmark 2015) were analyzed, and the viewing, analysis and registration of the 927 situations of offensive numerical inferiority were carried out, as well as the pertinent statistical study with SPSS v.24.The results show that the tactical or strategic use of the goalkeeper-field player favors goal scoring in situations of offensive numerical inferiority and does not punish the team which employs it, since there’s no significant difference in the probability of conceding a goal in counterattack.