The women’s handball team is not overpowered. That is a fact that no one hides. The problem on Thursday is that it came to nothing against Brazil. The Guerreras did not even come close to what one would expect from them, despite the obvious difficulties acknowledged by everyone in recent times to compete with the elite. Against the South Americans, led in the first half by their goalkeeper Gabriela Moreschi, the failure of Ambros Martín’s girls was alarming.
The score was a result of feelings and as soon as the second half began there was nothing to negotiate. A knockout defeat opens up a difficult scenario for the national team. The budgets for qualification to the quarterfinals depend on scraping together as much as possible against the teams in their league, such as Brazil, so this serious collapse leaves Spain with no margin in this group phase. They can take some air on Sunday against Angola (19.00) – a great improvement by virtue of that – but from there things get tough: Netherlands (Tuesday 30, 14.00), Hungary (Thursday 1, 14.00) and France (Saturday 3, 11.00).
The Guerreras had never lost against Brazil in an official match. Eight games and eight victories. The first defeat was a resounding one for a group of players who were overwhelmed by the situation. Mireya González scored the 1-0 and that was the end of the game for the team. The 2-7 in the 10th minute opened a scenario with many twists and turns in which the Guerreras crashed in all of them. “The result is not real, we are having good chances. Forget about the scoreboard. Calm down,” Ambros Martín asked them in a time-out right at the start, when the red light was starting to come on.
MOHAMMED BADRA (EFE)
The defence was weak and, although it had improved in the middle of the first half, the attack lacked the skill to take advantage of situations from six metres. The rest was taken care of by Moreschi, who was brilliant until the break, while there was some confusion. The Brazilian went into the break with eight saves in 17 attempts. On the other side, the Spanish coach had initially opted for Nicole Wiggins, but, apart from two initial interventions, she could not prevent the unstoppable fall. Merche Castellanos came on and the result was identical. The team had many problems. Only the effectiveness from seven metres (five of the 10 goals up to the break came from that route) kept a slight light on.
Until they came back from the locker room and the blackout was already total. The Brazilian advantage quickly grew to 10 goals: 13-23 in the 43rd minute. A sad and very early end to a match that seemed key to the Guerreras’ chances. The numbers and the skin of the match leave Spain in a very compromised situation, forced to make a radical change immediately if it wants to have anything to say at these Games.
Spain, 18 – Brazil, 29
Spain: Wiggins; Arderius, Jennifer Gutierrez (2), Lara Gonzalez, Gassama, Cabral (1) and Mireya Gonzalez (4) -starting team- Marta Lopez (5), Carmen Campos (4), Maitane Echeverria (1), Paula Arcos (1)
Brazil: Moreschi; Tamires Araujo (3), Quintino, Larissa Araujo (4), Giulia Guarieiro (4), Jhennifer Lopez (2) and Patricia Matieli (6) -starting team- Paula Bruna (6), Mariane Fernandes (1), Jessica Quintino ( 1), Adriana Cardoso (1), Gabriela Bitolo (1)
Scoreboard every five minutes: 2-4, 2-7, 4-9, 5-10, 7-11, 9-13, 10-15 at half-time; 11-18, 12-21, 14-23, 16-25, 18-26, 18-29, final
Referees: Olesen (DIN), Holm (ALE) and Diabate (CMR).
Paris South Arena.
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